


pumpkin kisses and harvest wishes (but you're the best of them all)

by haylssunflowerx



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Angst, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Inspired by Music, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Light Angst, Married Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Minor Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers, Songfic, Supercorptober 2020, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, karlena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 48,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haylssunflowerx/pseuds/haylssunflowerx
Summary: A collection of mostly fluffy and angsty one-shots for Supercorptober 2020
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 46
Kudos: 174





	1. day one: fall (it's time to count our blessings beneath an autumn sky)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [LavenderMandarin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderMandarin) for introducing me to this event! I've never done one of these so expect my works to exponentially decay in quality :)
> 
> More tags and characters will be added as I update!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "Some Things Never Change" from Frozen 2 (which, for absolutely no reason at all, is one of my favorite songs from the movie).

Fall certainly never affected Krypton this much.

It is completely marveling to Kara how there is this much change between the seasons on Earth when Krypton had full control over its resources, meaning the weather and environment was a constant.

It still isn’t clear to her how the entire world seems to transform into another world entirely once autumn pulls up in its sleek, black stretch limo, announcing its arrival to the world. The way the green leaves fade into an array of reds and oranges and yellows is nothing short of magic to the alien eye. Plus, as they turn brown and wither and fall to the ground, they make great crunching noises when stepped on, which fills the air with a distinct smell that Kara can’t get enough of. The temperature drop is cooling and comfortable, a cool kiss to the burn the heat of summer that leaves behind.

When she wakes up to that distinct change in atmosphere, a plan for a date forms in her head faster she can fly.

//

“Kara!" Lena squeals, grasping tightly onto a muscled arm as a raven suddenly flaps its wings frantically into flight.

Kara lays a reassuring hand onto the pale woman, chuckling quietly to herself at the hummingbird patter of Lena’s heart.

The black-haired woman shuffles forward, taking microscopic steps, eyes darting around frantically for the sight of other birds, and continues walking again with a shaky exhale when only the rustle of dying leaves against the cool autumn breeze is heard. Pale hands loosen their grip on Kara’s cardigan and slip slowly down the length of her arm to intertwine their fingers.

The reporter shivers, and perhaps it's not from the slight gust of wind that blows across town.

Lena’s hands are cold, always cold, and slowly, Kara rubs a thumb across the back of a pale hand, warming the skin there. Lena leans into the touch relaxing visibly.

Boots crunch softly and satisfyingly on dead leaves, and Kara makes sure to step on as many as possible; she can’t help that she’s a child at heart and the sounds the leaves make are just so nice.

_ Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. _

“Kara!” Lena screams in the same pitch as before, burying her head into the crook of the reporter’s neck, and Kara feels her girlfriend’s labored breathing, hot and fast, against the side of her neck.

“What?” she extracts Lena's death grip on her— or attempts to, but a tiny squeal escapes her slightly parted lips and she wraps her arms around Kara and holds on tight for dear life.

“Bird!” she squeaks, her voice slightly muffled by Kara's cardigan, and in response, a hummingbird flies past, the flapping of its wings truly matching with the frantic beat of Lena’s heart.

Lena turns her head slightly, opening an eye, and pulls away slowly. 

(Kara’s neck feels cold.)

She’s perplexed at this reaction to the raven and even the hummingbird, but as a crow flies overhead, she feels pale hands grasp her hand tighter as the woman next to her fidgets uncomfortably.

“You’re scared of birds,” Kara states, an eyebrow raised in question. Although her face is dead serious, she bites the inside of her cheek, pressing her lips together firmly to stop herself from bursting into an unstoppable fit of laughter.

“Yes, I am,” Lena hisses, burying her face into her burgundy scarf to hide the heat creeping up the side of her neck.

“Why?” The question is genuinely curious, and Lena peeks out from her scarf.

“They fly.”

Kara sputters. “But I fly!”

“They’re not strong and pretty like you.”

Kara flushes.

“But the pigeons?” She refers to the endless amount of pigeons that roam National City, flying in large groups to scavenge for unattended pieces of food.

“Pfft,” she snorts. “They’re scared of me.”

“You’re an idiot, Luthor,” Kara teases, tongue poking out playfully through her smile. Lena sends a glare back, but it quickly dissolves when the reporter has absolutely no reaction to it.

“But I’m your idiot,” she replies smoothly, shooting a dazzling grin towards the other girl.

When a lone pigeon flies in and lands on a low-hanging branch directly in front of them, Lena ducks her head and squeals again, and this time, Kara lets herself laugh loudly and freely.

“I thought you weren’t scared of pigeons!” 

“This one isn’t scared of me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **[730 words]**
> 
> I'm genuinely worried that this will be the only slightly decent one and the next thirty days will be straight-up trash. I burn out faster than a sparkler oof
> 
> On the bright side, day one is done!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> i have [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	2. day two: baking (it only takes a taste when it's something special)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "It Only Takes a Taste" by Sara Bareilles from the musical Waitress.

Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor have not had good memories baking.

Well, Kara is usually the one baking, and Lena watches her, groaning and shaking her head as a headache comes on, downing scotch until she’s slightly tipsy because her superhero wife cannot bake to save her life.

She’s set things on fire at least fourteen times (which, Lena pointed out, beat Spencer Shay’s record of setting things on fire), before realizing her laser eyes didn’t work well with chocolate; she's never been more thankful for her freeze breath in those moments. She’s also made many catastrophic masterpieces of macarons, including extremely salty ones (when she used salted butter instead of regular butter after adding twice the salt because she forgot), and horribly bitter ones (she still doesn't know where she went wrong there) and the most common one: the flat ones that look nothing more than a sad lump of batter (probably from overmixing or undermixing; it's very hard to control when you're that strong).

And perhaps her worst accomplishment of all: she’s never made bread successfully.

At least, until a day ago, after at least twenty failed bread attempts.

“Kara, darling,” Lena groans as the reporter happily takes out the bread box from the refrigerator. “Can you stop making bread every day?”

“Nope!” She pops the ‘p’ and takes out an unopened twenty-five-pound sack of flour, lifting it easily.

“Kara!” Lena admonishes, eyes wide. “When did you get that?”

“This morning! We ran out of flour in the tiny bag and I had to get more because I’ve only made bread for twenty-two days in a row!”

“And you had to get a bag heavier than I can lift?”

“Pfft,” she scoffs, taking the rest of the dough out of the box and shaping it into a round ball before scoring the top and shoving it into the oven with some spices Lena can’t quite catch. “By next week, you’ll be able to carry it,” the superhero calls over her shoulder, shoving the dough into the oven.

“That just shows how much flour you’re using a day!”

“Well,” Kara frantically grasps for words. “I-I like flour.”

“That’s not even fair! Raw flour won’t poison you but it’ll poison me!”

The reporter ignores Lena’s statement. “Oh, look, we’re out of dough! I guess we’ll have to make more!” she drawls out in a clearly mocking, sing-song voice.

From the cabinet, she pulls out a two-pound sack of yeast. Lena gapes.

“I’ve never seen so much yeast in one place in my life.”

“Good for you! Now you’ve seen two pounds of yeast. You want more? I can just fly over to the supermarket and get more,” she grins, opening the container and scooping out a few tablespoons of it.

“No no, no no, please do not get more,” Lena rests her head in her hands. A horrible headache is coming on, and she’s sure it’s because of the amount of yeast in the room.

When Kara finishes making the dough and it’s risen for two hours, she giggles and punches the inflated dough, watching it deflate. “It’s so poofy!” she flashes a wide grin at Lena, who has no choice but to smile back.

“Yes, it’s very poofy,” she peers into the bread bucket and her stomach rolls at the sight of it. Too much bread.

However, the bread is done baking in the oven, and when the reporter opens the oven with a flourish and takes the bread out with her bare hands (Lena still can’t believe she can do that), the smell of garlic and rosemary filling the room.

“I smell garlic?” she tilts her head to the side in question.

“Yeah! I mixed garlic nuggets and rosemary into the dough because you said you liked rosemary and garlic.” Her smile morphs into a pout. “Please tell me you like it.”

Green eyes look away from Kara’s pout. “How can I like it when it’s bread?”

“It’s _garlic_ bread.”

“Well, I used to like garlic bread but you made so much bread I’m sick of anything that is bread,” she shoots a playful glare at the taller girl. “What have you done to me?”

“Nothing!” she raises her arms in the universal sign of surrender. “Just try it,” she nudges the lump of bread towards Lena, watching happily as garlic-smelling steam rises from the crack between the chunk her wife rips off.

“S’good,” Lena mumbles around a mouthful of bread. “I like the garlic.”

Kara jumps into the air, doing a backflip in triumph. “Told you!”

“But no. No more bread. I am very sick of bread and you know very well you can go out and buy other things that don’t make bread.” Lena folds her arms across her chest like Supergirl, and Kara caves.

“Fine.”

//

Kara comes home with bananas.

When Lena gets back from L-corp late at night, she’s exhausted from the seemingly endless day of work. That doesn't stop her nose from picking up a familiar scent.

The penthouse smells like bananas. And vanilla. And cake.

“Kara, darling?”

“Yes?”

“Are you making banana bread?”

“Yeah!”

Lena drops her bag and darts to the kitchen, where the reporter is taking banana bread out of a cupcake tin.

“Banana bread cupcakes?” she asks, cocking a brow in surprise. “Never seen that before.”

"So we don’t have to cut the loaf and it keeps the inside warmer for longer and fresher,” she explains proudly.

The other woman nods thoughtfully. “Smart.”

“So you’re fine with it being bread?” 

“No- I’m not-” She huffs, knowing very well Kara wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Fine, you can make banana bread.” Her expression drops into a scowl.

“Aww, come here,” Kara holds her arms out, spatula in one hand, and Lena shuffles into the hug reluctantly. 

“You’re welcome,” Lena mutters, arms folded tightly across her chest.

“Thanks, Lee,” the reporter grins goofily, patting Lena’s back with the spatula.

“Hey! That’s expensive!” she pulls away quickly, craning her neck to see banana bread batter on her button-up. “I like this one.”

“It’s not like you can’t buy another,” Kara rolls her eyes and smiles, the tip of her tongue held captive between her teeth, and she motions towards the dessert. “Try it!”

Even when biting the inside of her cheek, she can still feel a smile tug at her lips, and she lifts one up, looking at it through narrowed eyes, and takes a bite.

“This isn’t fair,” she pouts after finishing it quickly. “You never make bad food anymore.”

“That’s not true and you know it. Yesterday, I made a failed cake and lost your trust in my baking. So,” she leans against the counter, tired eyes pointed towards the mountain of banana bread. “What made you like it again?”

“The banana bread,” she admits, smiling sheepishly. “Can you make this often? It's really good.”

“What’s the magic word?”

“Please?” Lena offers.

Kara shakes her head.

“Lotion?”

“Good. You’re buying the bananas.”

Lena flushes, burying her face into the crook of Kara’s neck to hide her cheeks, and instinctively, the taller woman presses a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Thank you, love,” Lena mumbles, letting her lips brush against Kara’s neck. When her lips press a soft kiss to her pulse point, it races under her touch.

Kara puts the spatula down to wrap her arms around Lena. “You’re so sweet.”

Lena rolls her head to the side on Kara's shoulder to look her in the eye. “You are what you eat.”

The words take a few moments to catch up with both of them, but when it does, both women burst into laughter, doubling over and stumbling until their sides hurt, and even then, Lena has to wipe a tear that escapes the corner of her eyes.

“What was that?” Kara wheezes, holding Lena’s hands in hers, lips pressed together to prevent herself from collapsing into another string of painful laughter.

“I don’t know,” Lena admits, cheeks rosy, before pulling the blue-eyed girl close again. She can’t get enough of Kara’s touch and it scares her.

Kara lets out a pretty chuckle and lifts her wife's head to press a gentle kiss at the corner of her mouth. Lena smiles ever-so-slightly and closes her eyes at the sensation, dropping her head onto Kara’s shoulder.

“I love you,” she mumbles, smiling into Kara’s neck even though she can’t see.

“I love you more,” is the response that leaves Kara’s lips, and Lena feels giddy.

“Liar.”

With a feigned gasp, Kara pulls away. “Are you accusing me of lying?” she gnaws on her bottom lip, ocean eyes wide in question, laughter spilling out of her, and pulls away from Lena’s embrace, holding up the spatula as a weapon.

“Yep,” Lena grins widely and darts away at the first sign of Kara running towards her.

As the circle around the couch, Lena can already feel her lungs burning. “This is not fair,” she shouts, as Kara darts in front of her with her super-speed.

The blush pink of the spatula matches Lena’s cheeks, and Kara advances, banana batter threatening to drip onto the carpet underneath them.

The taller woman moves towards Lena, slowly, languidly, until Lena is pressed up against the wall, and she has her arms up in surrender. “Alright,” she groans. “I give up.”

Kara taps her on the nose with the spatula anyway, and Lena pouts, face scrunching up in disgust before using a finger to wipe the batter off.

And then she smears it on Kara.

“Hey! You-”

Lena shuts her up with a kiss, and just like that, the rest of the world is forgotten, spatula and all.

Maybe, sometimes, their best memories are from doing things they’re not very good at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **[1626 words]**  
>    
> I didn't realize I referenced most of the fandoms I'm in in this fic until [LavenderMandarin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderMandarin) pointed it out. But if you didn't get any of the references, the iCarly one is in plain sight and explicitly mentioned (Kara setting things on fire), the Victorious reference is "lotion" as the magic word (which is used in the episode "Stage Fighting"), and this entire plot was inspired by YouTuber [Colleen Balllinger](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-QYzXrZF8yFarK8wZbHog) (aka Miranda Sings) and how she made bread every day for the first three months of quarantine to the point where her fans had to ask her every night on Twitter if she made bread that day.
> 
> Can I also say that some of Kara's baking fails I've described match mine? I've definitely made overly-salty macarons and overmixed them more than once :)
> 
> also i have [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	3. day three: dancing (the light from your eyes makes it feel like we're dancing in the moonlight)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "Moonlight" by Grace VanderWaal.

_“No!”_

The words are hissed out through gritted teeth, and she tenses her entire body as a pair of hands attempt to push her towards the dance floor.

“I am _not_ dancing,” she backs away from her chorus teacher, who has an encouraging smile plastered to her face. She’s Lena’s favorite teacher, and it’s hard to say no, but when it comes to dancing, it’s easy.

“Everyone has to,” she insists, patting her on the shoulder twice sympathetically. “Even me. I’m going to dance and you know how much I don’t like dancing.”

“ _Pfft,_ yeah,” the high-schooler sputters. “A chorus teacher that doesn’t like to dance.”

“Just go!” she motions toward the dance floor, where the majority of the camp members are jumping to the beat, the gym floor thudding as a hundred pairs of shoes land on the floor collectively. “You’re at camp, Lena. You don’t know people that well, and we’re all performing arts kids, and no one is going to judge you.”

Still, her heartbeat continues to race, and the chorus teacher grasps her hand. “I’ll dance with you? Come on, I know you like this song.”

Lena grumbles, nodding her head to the beat. It’s the most she’s willing to do, but her teacher is right; this is one of her favorite songs.

_She’s talking to angels, counting the stars, making a wish on a passing car; she’s dancing with strangers, falling apart, waiting for Superman to pick her up in his arms._

“I wish I had a Superman to pick me up so I don’t have to dance with strangers,” she mutters under her breath, and just like that the song ends.

The next song doesn’t seem to come on, and so she sighs happily, clearly relieved, and heads to the drinks, where she downs a cup of apple juice. _It looks like scotch,_ she thinks, and convinces herself it is.

“Okay, everyone!” The camp leader’s voice booms from the speakers. “We have our annual slow dance! Pair up with someone, and I’ll start the song! I need to see _everyone_ paired up with someone, I know there’s an even amount of students here.”

Lena locates him and shoots literal daggers at his forehead, but he can’t see her. _It’s the thought that counts._

“Lena!” the chorus teacher comes back, pulling with her a camp counselor Lena’s never seen before. “Find someone!”

Lena shakes her head, midnight waves swinging as she does so, and with the teacher’s scolding stare, she deflates. 

“It doesn’t have to be a boy, sweetie,” she reassures, motioning to a girl in the distance around Lena’s age, attempting to hide in the darkness of a corner, where the fairy lights cannot illuminate her. However, Lena spots her sandals, which have white heels, and they glow in the faint blue light from the DJ.

The black-haired girl creeps onto the bleachers, behind the DJ to get a closer look; the camp leader hasn’t spotted her yet, and with narrowed eyes, Lena’s gaze meets hers.

The girl looks away immediately, but Lena catches a brilliant blue, glasses, and light hair, half of it tied into a bun.

 _Kara Danvers._ She goes to the same school as Lena, and they have AP Chemistry and chorus together. She gets many of the lead roles, and along with Lena, they’re the only two sophomores in AP Chem, so of course, she would recognize the girl.

It also happens to be the girl Lena has an enormous crush on.

She flushes entirely, a cherry-blossom pink blooming over her cheeks and neck, and she can’t lift her head to meet her teacher’s gaze. _She knows?_

“Go get your girl!” The same teacher appears behind her, and Lena swivels quickly, almost losing her balance. 

Lena sends a threatening scowl, but it does nothing to puncture the teacher’s happy smile. 

Just then, the camp leader points to Lena. “You, over there, find someone quick!”

The teacher nudges her again towards Kara, before walking away with a wink, and she scurries over to the blonde girl, who is doing her best to be one with the wall.

“Pretend like we’re partners,” she hisses, heart racing when curious blue eyes look her over.

“Oh, hi, Lena!” she waves, lips breaking into a genuine smile, eyes crinkling in the corners.

“Kara, right?” she asks. The thought of dancing with her makes her cheeks flare with heat and her heart race.

She lifts a hand to adjust her glasses awkwardly. “Yeah. You’re in my AP Chem class? And chorus?”

“Yep.”

“Do we actually have to dance?”

“Uh-”

“Okay, I need to see you all dancing, or the chaperones will make sure you’re doing that!” the leader announces, and though Lena’s face drops into a scowl, she can’t hold it for long because Kara holds a hand out.

“Pushy much?” kARA teases, and Lena has no choice but to take the other girl’s hand.

“Pfft, yeah,” she scoffs, then adds, “I don’t know how to dance, and last time I tried, I nearly broke the guy’s toe twice.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t know either,” the taller girl laughs. “But I have toes of steel.”

“So we’re both screwed? Great,” she mutters jokingly, and Kara laughs.

It’s the first time Lena’s heard her laugh, and her stomach flips; It’s so pretty and unique, and she doesn’t think she can stay this close to Kara and hear her laugh again.

When the music starts, Kara knows the song before the words come in, and she hums the intro. Lena reluctantly places her pale hands on Kara's shoulders. She’s wearing a sleeveless navy dress. It’s quite simple and reaches just below her knees, but it looks amazing on her. It also helps that blue seems to be Kara’s color.

Her hands twitch uncomfortably, trying not to touch skin that much, and her hands feel sweaty and hot on the taller girl’s sculpted shoulders.

“I-” she gulps as Kara slides her hands to place awkwardly on her waist, and soon, the butterflies in her stomach feel like they’re exploding. “I like your dress.”

In the dim light, Lena looks up to see dazzling blue eyes meet hers. “Thanks,” she flushes, just barely, but Lena can tell by the way she looks away to keep her gaze locked on the far wall that she’s blushing.

“This is one of my favorite songs, I think.”

Lena laughs. “You think?”

“Yeah, I’ve just always had this weird connection to it.”

_And everything is happening now // But I'm still having the hardest time, hardest time // When all you see is the tide, going in and out // I've been between the pushing pull holding you down…_

The song is slow, and the melody is beautiful, but Kara’s voice as she sings along is even prettier. It doesn’t help that she and Kara have been getting closer and closer, then pulling back as they realize their distance.

“Sorry,” she mutters, as her heels barely miss Kara's toes, and she steps back again.

“Oh, screw it,” she can hear Kara mutter, and before her brain can process it, Kara snakes her arms fully around her waist, pulling her close-

“Oh.”

She doesn’t realize she’s holding her breath until she exhales heavily, and even then, it’s shaking and stuttered, and when she looks up just slightly, she only then realizes how close her face is to Kara’s.

She smells like vanilla and cinnamon, and when she drops her gaze from Kara’s ocean eyes to rest her head softly on the other girl’s bare shoulder, she can feel every point of contact, her arms, slung lazily around Kara’s neck, her head on Kara’s shoulder, Kara’s strong arms holding her close, and she feels so warm and… safe.

When the song ends, she loosens her arms around Kara’s neck reluctantly, and Kara’s hands drag just a little longer than necessary on her hips before pulling away.

“Um, you wanna go outside?” The blonde girl offers, holding out a hand, and without hesitation, Lena takes it, following her outside, where there are no fairy lights to illuminate the two girls as they run off to the side of the building.

Kara opens a door hidden into a wall, locks it behind her, and they’re plunged in darkness.

“Kara?” Her voice echoes through the room, and she tells herself, _I’m not scared, I’m not scared,_ but the tremble of her voice says otherwise.

She feels a hand slip into hers slowly, and Kara’s breath on her cheek, and then she murmurs, “I’m right here. Follow me.”

They continue through the darkness until Kara stops abruptly. “There’s a ladder here. You go up first, and I’m right behind you.”

Her voice is calm and reassuring, and though Lena’s heart is racing with uncertainty, she ultimately trusts Kara, and climbs, pushing open the door when she gets to the top, and she meets fresh air, and-

The sky opens above her. She gapes at each pinpoint of light above her head, forming constellations, pictures, _stories_ above her head, and she feels Kara hit her shoe.

“Sorry!” A muffled voice comes from below, and Lena moves out of the way to keep looking at the stars.

She spots the three stars of Orion’s belt, and her eyes trace its outline to Betelgeuse, at the hunter’s left shoulder. _And that’s Rigel,_ she names silently, eyes gazing at the bright star. _And Ursa Major._ Her eyes follow the handle. _And that’s Arcturus, the brightest star in the sky._

“You’re an astronomy nerd.” She hears a voice, and Lena realizes she’s on the roof and she isn’t alone. And she’s muttering her thoughts aloud.

She dips her head slightly to hide her blush but nods wordlessly.

“We can look at the stars later,” Kara breathes, lifting Lena onto her feet.

“Why are we-” Lena starts, but she gets cut off when Kara slips her arms around Lena’s waist and pulls her close.

She lets out a slight _oomf_ as their bodies collide, and Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s neck and holds tightly, her face flushing quickly.

“Dance with me.”

Her voice is barely a whisper, her breath barely distinguishable from the nighttime breeze.

Lena pulls her hand away from Kara’s neck for a second to take out her phone and play _Waiting for Superman._

She places it onto the ground (screw dresses and their lack of pockets) and tilts her head up to stare gaze into Kara’s eyes. In the starlight, it’s a brilliant blue, and for a second, it reminds of the blue supergiant, Rigel.

It’s not dancing, per se; more like a gentle swaying to the music. But it’s enough. It’s more than enough.

“Your eyes,” Kara breathes, as the pre-chorus plays. “Complete heterochromia,” she breathes in awe, gazing into Lena’s eyes fondly as if it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.

Lena blushes deeply. “I like your eyes too,” she thinks aloud. “They remind me of Rigel, the blue supergiant. It’s right there,” she points towards Orion.

As the chorus comes on, Lena sings along quietly. Every note is slightly off; she never lands on the right note, but it’s the way she sings as if no one is listening, loudly and passionately that makes Kara’s heart tumble in her chest.

“She’s talking to angels, counting the stars, making a wish on a passing car; She’s talking to strangers, falling apart, waiting for _Supergirl_ to pick her up-”

“Did you say Supergirl?” Kara cuts in. She’s humming the song too.

Lena flushes. She didn’t think Kara would notice. “Yeah.”

“How come?”

“I kinda wished earlier when this song was playing that Superman would pick me up and save me from this God-forsaken dance.” _And then I found you. You’re my Supergirl._ She adds silently.

She seems to read her thoughts. “I’m your Supergirl?”

“Y-Yeah,” Lena dips her head, an inevitable smile.

Kara lets out an amused exhale, but it dissolves quickly as the air becomes fragile.

The song builds, and she hears Kara’s deep, shaky inhale.

“I- Can I kiss you?” 

The words are murmured quietly and quickly and airily, as if she’s breathless.

Lena lifts her head, meeting Kara’s blue eyes, breath catching in her throat as she leans forward so their noses brush. “I thought you’d never ask,” she murmurs, eyes dropping to her lips.

When their lips meet, it's not perfect, but the world seems to melt away. It’s just the two of them, and the stars, surrounding them in their beauty.

Everything is perfect, and calm, and still.

And then, when Lena sighs into her mouth and Kara takes this opportunity to deepen the kiss, the world erupts in flames, and her brain is working in overdrive as feelings mix with sensation and chemicals, and she feels it.

_She’s waiting for Superman to lift her up (and take her through the air), show her love (and climbing through the air), save her now (before it’s too late tonight), oh, like the speed of light…_

She feels like she’s floating and flying, and the world collapses around her at the speed of light because Kara Danvers is her Supergirl, and she’s here with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading it!
> 
> i have [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	4. day four: dog (if a flaming pile of dog crap won't cheer me up, you will)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Supergirl has a pet horse named Comet somewhere in the DC comics, so here is the horse in golden retriever form.
> 
> No, the chapter title is not from a song.

“I want a dog.”

Every syllable, every sound of that sentence is burned into Lena’s ears because ever since Kara’s saved that damned dog from the fire, she’s been begging for one.

When Kara asks again the next day, in the same pitch and rhythm and tone, Lena says it in her head along with her mockingly.

“Kara, darling,” she sighs, repeating the same thing for the seventh time. “If we get a dog, who would take care of it? We have full-time jobs, and who’s gonna-”

“Yeah, yeah,” she interrupts, flicking a dismissive hand towards her wife. “Who’s gonna feed and walk and take care of the dog? Blah, blah, blah, I don’t know, I just want a dog!” she rambles, throwing her arms in exasperation.

“You have to look at the consequences too,” Lena reminds her, along with a couple of sympathetic shoulder pats.

//

“Okay. Fine. Get a dog, but you’re taking care of it-”

“Yay!” Kara practically screams, flying over to Lena to wrap her into a bone-crushing hug. She flies a couple of feet into the air and Lena fidgets painfully in Kara’s grasp.

“Um, put me down, please.”

“Oh, oops, sorry! But thank you so much!” she squeals again, blue eyes glowing with happiness.

Lena continues scrolling on her tablet. “One week, you’re taking care of it, and good luck,” she states, her words devoid of emotion.

(She doesn’t really mean the last part).

//

Kara comes back on Monday with a golden retriever, about eight weeks old. “Lee, come see Comet!”

Lena peers, somewhat curiously (she makes sure not to show it, however) at the sleeping dog, already in her dog bed. she snores softly, a small grunting noise every time she exhales.

Her heart warms at the tiny puppy, just over the size of both of Lena’s hands, but she doesn’t show it (or admit it). Instead, she narrows her eyes at the creature and folds her arms across her chest, looking her over menacingly.

Kara beams. “This is Comet, she’s a girl, and she’s a golden retriever!” The smile reaches the corners of her eyes.

Lena almost wants to admit defeat, because she already knows Kara is going to get attached. But not yet. She must convince Kara that a dog is too hard to keep up with around Kara's two full-time jobs.

“Great, that’s like having two Karas in this house,” she comments snarkily but humorously and throws the dog a curious glance before resuming her work.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’re basically a golden retriever, and you just got another one, and one plus one equals two,” she explains slowly as if talking to a three-year-old.

Kara snorts. “No, I’m not a golden- okay, maybe a bit.” She concedes, pouting.

“But not the point!” Her voice is loud and high and happy, and the dog is still sleeping, but Lena pays no attention. “I will do anything and everything I can to keep Comet, and you will not stop me!” 

Her arms fold over her chest like Supergirl, earning an exaggerated eye roll from Lena. From Kara’s peripheral vision, she spots the microscopic shake of the CEO’s head.

“Good luck.”

(She doesn’t mean it this time, either).

//

Kara is awoken at four-thirty in the morning when Comet whines pitifully and scratches the closed door from the outside. She doesn’t want to get out of bed two hours before she has to, but if she wants to keep the dog, she can’t let it wake Lena up.

“Alright, alright,” she whispers, opening the door quietly, but when she flicks on the living room lamp, the entire room is in chaos.

Comet’s cage is wide open, her toys flung across the room. Her food bowls are tipped over, the kibble spilling out of her cage, mixing with the water from her water bowl to form a soggy soup. A pillow is on the floor, shredded, the cotton scattered throughout the room (thank Rao it's not her favorite). The entire room stinks, and the reporter, with heavy eyelids, wants to collapse onto the couch in defeat because there is poop somewhere in the room.

Luckily, her x-ray vision comes in handy, and she locates two pieces (there’s one under the couch and another right next to the bed) before using her super-speed to clean the room up. The cotton takes forever to collect because there always seems to be another piece after she picks up the last one, and at one point, there's a pile laying in a puddle of fluid that is clearly not water.

“Ugh, why did you have to pee on this?” she scolds Comet, who’s watching her with wide, innocent eyes as she cleans up the mess. “Still acting like you didn’t do anything wrong, huh?”

When Comet tips her head to the side and downward slightly, gazing at Kara through her wide, chocolate eyes, Kara finally sees the power of a Kara Danvers pout. It's hard not to give her belly rubs, and soon, she gives in anyway, giggling softly when Comet's tail swings from side to side happily.

By five o’clock, after fifteen minutes of hand-washing to make sure she doesn’t smell like dog feces when Lena wakes up, she locks Comet in the cage (she triple-checks to make sure) and slips back into the covers to get an hour of sleep before she has to wake up and take care of the dog before work.

//

By the time she wakes up again, Lena is stirring beside her, and she dashes into the kitchen to speed-make a Belgian hot chocolate with some healthy stuff she’s memorized by heart but doesn’t have the time to look at (a very special hot chocolate for a very special woman, Kara likes to say), and takes out a donut from yesterday’s box to set onto the table for Lena.

Comet is fast asleep, and dogs have their own sleeping schedules (Kara did some research), so she eats donuts straight out of the box to pass the time. 

Comet stirs just as she swallows her third donut (at human speed), and immediately, Kara fills her bowl with kibble and water, cleans her from the previous night, and locks her in the cage, making a mental note to check in with her during lunch.

She flies to Noonan’s to pick up two coffees and a bag of donut holes, downing a cup and finishing a quarter of the bag before she even reaches CatCo.

At CatCo, she’s constantly distracted, using her super-hearing to listen to the dog while trying to juggle her article due the next day.

During lunch, Kara moves her lunch date with her wife to the penthouse, where Kara has Big Belly Burger ready. She spends most of the time spent on the dog, rather than Lena, and it upsets the reporter that she can't spend as much time as she used to with her wife.

She cleans up after the dog, feeds her, and coaxes her to poop in the right place. In the hour she’s home, Comet poops twice in the right place (out of three times), and Kara decides it’s a win.

She gets back to work and carries Lena to hers, making sure to drop her off with a lingering kiss and a bag of "sweet sugary goodness" to make up for the lost time. When she turns in her article, even Snapper can tell she’s distracted.

“Rewrite this, and there shouldn’t be one phrase that matches this first draft, because this entire thing is a flaming pile of crap.” he snaps, turning away dismissively to pay more attention to his pen than Kara.

Kara thinks of her article burning in a pile of Comet’s poop to cheer her up. She wrinkles her nose. It does nothing to cheer her up.

When she gets home, her article isn’t done and her hair is matted and dirty, but she plays with Comet because she couldn't resist her puppy eyes. And she feels bad because Comet is only awake for thirty minutes at a time.

Finally, when she puts Comet to sleep that night, she has to bathe in the yellow sun lamps, recharging her cells in order to muster the energy and strength to shower and finish her article. The thought that the day is over and that she finally gets sleep is reassuring, but the idea that tomorrow will be a repeat of today chases the thought away.

She slips away into unconsciousness at one o’clock in the morning.

At least she remembers to close Comet’s cage door.

//

The next week is a repeat of Monday. Kara cannot focus on anything when she keeps getting distracted by the noises Comet is making. Plus, she can’t stop thinking about the puppy every waking moment, and between finding time to spend with Lena and Comet, she barely has enough time to write her articles.

On Tuesday, Kara concludes it’s a little better than the first day when she isn't awoken at four-thirty to clean up dog waste.

On Wednesday, Comet has too much energy, and Kara spends fifteen minutes chasing the golden retriever around the house while trying to clean a piece of poop clinging to the fur around her butthole.

On Thursday night, after the worst day of the week, Kara comes home and catches Lena on the sofa with Comet fast asleep on her chest as she absently watches the television. Kara notices a hand that lightly scratches behind Comet's ears, and her heart swells impossibly at the sight.

Lena doesn’t know Kara sees her, though.

By the end of the week, she sinks into the couch at eleven o’clock, gazing sleepily at the view of National City outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse.

She catches Lena’s reflection behind her, sipping a mug of hot tea behind her, a thoughtful expression plastered to her face.

“Hey, Lee” she greets, sighing heavily.

“Hi.”

When Lena sits down on the couch next to her and sets her mug down, Kara prepares herself for a long list of reasons she failed; she can even name some herself, but Lena only leans into Kara, cuddling her softly.

“How are you?” she murmurs.

“Tired.”

Lena lets out a quiet laugh.

“Can we keep the dog?” Kara pleads. Though she’s more tired than she’s probably ever been, her voice still has the begging lilt to it.

Lena doesn’t say aloud she had already admitted defeat on Monday at the first sight of the puppy. She had expected Kara to grow attached, but what she didn't see coming was the fact that she didn't want to give the puppy back either.

“I want to say no because you kinda failed to take care of her this entire week, but," Lena shakes as she lets out a quiet laugh, "I don’t think I can.”

“So, we’re keeping her?”

“Yeah. You can keep her.” Lena lets out a strong exhale, deflating. “And I’ll help you,” she mumbles quietly.

“Thank you, love,” Lena feels Kara smile tiredly, and she lifts Kara’s hand to brush her lips against the knuckles.

“Anytime.”

Comet jumps onto the couch to snuggle into Lena’s lap, and Lena imagines this moment from a third-person perspective. The three of them on the couch, Lena cuddled softly against Kara, Comet scrambling to find a spot to rest as the television runs quietly in the background.

Lena's eyelids fall shut, and her heart swells when Comet finally finds a comfortable position, cute noises coming from its throat as it stretches and dozes off.

_So this is what family feels like._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot may be fluffy, but it is indeed a big pile of flaming dog crap.
> 
> i have [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	5. day five: family (i swear i'll remember to say we were both born today)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song and chapter title is "Everything Changes" by Sara Barellies from the musical Waitress :)

The seconds bleed into minutes bleed into hours, and the process is exhausting and draining, but as she clenches her teeth and pushes with all the strength of a mother behind her, the baby doesn’t budge. 

She flops onto the bed, and Kara lays an arm on her shoulder, rubbing it softly. Her blue eyes are soft and gentle, already brimming with tears.

“Lena,” the doctor’s voice cuts into the haze. “Do you have some hugs and kisses saved up?”

With that, Lena’s heart expands to a size she didn’t think was humanly possible, and she lets out a dry laugh. “Yes. Yes, I do,” she pants.

The doctor smiles wide, and he looks up at Lena. “One more,” he promises. “One more, and she’ll be here.”

There are no words to describe the sudden adrenaline that courses through her veins, and she pushes, fisting the sheets and curling her toes one final time, and the pressure vanishes between her legs.

Then it happens all at once.

 **_today's a day like any other_ ** **_  
_ ** **_but I'm changed, i am a mother, oh, in an instant_ **

She deflates entirely, arms and legs and core aching, and suddenly, nurses and doctors are swarming around her, murmuring softly, their words punctured by the strong wail of a child.

Black dots are swimming in her vision, and she closes her eyes, to let them rest-

“Lena,” the doctor speaks again, his voice quiet and soothing. “I want you to look down. Look down, Lena,” he coaxes, insistently, but she doesn’t want to, she’s too tired-

“Look down.”

The sobs hit her body like an eighteen-wheeler, and she doesn’t know where they come from. The only thing she knows is that she’s full-on crying, the tears-streaming-down-in-an-endless-river, chest-heaving-loudly, punctuated-with-hiccups type of crying.

It’s easy to say Lena is good with words. But now, in this moment, eyes focused solely on the newborn before her eyes, all words to describe how she feels evaporates, and she’s crying, sobbing, tears spilling faster than they’ve ever been, because she _gave birth._

 **_and who i was has disappeared_ ** **_  
_ ** **_It doesn't matter, now you're here_ ** **_  
_ ** **_so innocent_ **

“OhmyGod,” she gasps, chest still heaving with every breath. “There she is, she’s here, she’s here!” The words leave her mouth like a mantra, words blending as her throat feels thick with emotion and tears.

Lena reaches her arms out towards the human life, still covered in amniotic fluid and blood, her hands grazing ever-so-softly on the baby's head, her dirty-blonde hair brushing against her palms, as soft as clouds.

Her nose is stuffed, snot running down her face, and her lips are pulled taut in a silent sob. As the doctors clean her, Lena tilts her head towards Kara. Her face mirrors Lena’s, blue eyes glistening with happiness.

Lena’s eyes quickly dart around the room, to Eliza and then to Alex, and both are crying happily, hands held in front of their quivering lips. 

“Hey, mama,” Kara whispers quietly, her voice punctuated with hiccups as tears roll slowly and endlessly down her cheeks. She bends down to give Lena the softest kiss possible, and though the room is in hysterics— the doctors and nurses are rushing to get the baby’s airways cleaned, getting documents and scales and clothes ready— Lena’s ears drown everything out as Kara’s presence and whispered words echo through her ears.

“We did it,” Kara is breathless as she bends down to press her forehead against Lena’s. “We did it.”

In that moment, it’s just her stuttered breathing, Kara’s soothing voice, the baby’s cries, and white noise, and then-

 **_i was lost for you to find_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and now i'm yours and you are mine_ **

_And then,_ it clicks.

Within everything that’s happened in the last year and a half— the planning of the baby, using Lena’s invention that enables bone marrow to be turned into sperm, the hundreds of failed attempts, the terribly painful and hard pregnancy that caused nothing less than nine months of excruciating pain and mood swings and pure hell that interfered with Lena’s productivity— she’s lost herself.

Everything she’s known about herself changes when she sees herself as a mom and not a wife, and for a second, she dreads the slow learning process until she realizes not only is Kara going to go on this journey with her, but the baby as well.

When the nurse brings the baby back after she’s wrapped tightly in a blanket, Lena’s heart swells impossibly huge at the sight of the baby, asleep in her arms.

“Hey, pumpkin,” she murmurs into her ear. “You made it before Christmas. You’re going to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with us. You just couldn’t wait, huh?”

Kara holds her palms to her heart, gazing lovingly at the mother and daughter and their first moments together.

“Cuties,” she mumbles.

**_two tiny hands, a pair of eyes_ **

The newborn begins to make small grunting noises, body tensing, arms fidgeting as she opens her eyes for the first time, and-

For the first time, Lena sees a dazzling blue that can rival Kara’s. 

“She has your eyes.”

The words are breathed out in awe, and Lena’s gaze flickers between her wife and her daughters.

When the child’s gaze darts to Kara, her lips twitch, just barely, as if smiling, and she closes her eyes again, drifting into a peaceful slumber.

“What’s her name?” the nurse adjusts her so she lays on Lena’s chest like a frog, arms spread wide in the tiniest of hugs.

“Lori,” Kara breathes. “Lori Luthor-Danvers.”

“Lori is beautiful,” the nurse smiles proudly, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “Just like her mothers,” she adds, before exiting the room quietly to leave the family alone.

When Kara reaches a hand towards Lori’s tiny hand, barely large enough to wrap around a finger, Lori grabs the finger in her hand, holding it tightly to her heart.

 **_an unsung melody is mine for safekeeping_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and i will guard it with my life_ ** **_  
_ ** **_i'd hang the moon for it to shine on her sleeping_ **

Lena’s lips purse with emotion and she gazes up at Kara.

Out of nowhere, a strong wave of _we must protect her at all costs_ sweeps over Lena, and she holds the baby just a little bit tighter, as if that would protect it from the cruel world.

“She has no idea how much I would give for her,” Lena murmurs to Kara. “I love her so much.” Her voice breaks with emotion, and her eyes start to well up again.

 **_starting here and starting now_ ** **_  
_ ** **_i can feel the heart of how_ ** **_  
_ ** **_everything changes_ **

Alex leaves the hospital at eight o’clock to buy Big Belly Burger for the couple (per Kara’s request), and the mothers take turns holding Lori in their arms.

“I feel like myself again,” Lena lets her head fall back onto the pillows, sighing, and the nurse pulls out a camera to record. “For the first time in nine months, I feel like myself again. And more,” her eyes flicker to Lori’s sleeping figure. 

“I spent so many nights crying myself to sleep and praying, _begging_ to any possible god out there to get rid of the pain and depression, and she’s done just that,” Lena whispers the camera. “She’s everything I could’ve asked for and more.”

 **_i didn't know, but now i see_ ** **_  
_ ** **_sometimes what is, is meant to be_ ** **_  
_ ** **_you saved me_ **

Everything makes sense. The long months of torture and pain all lead up to this one moment. _It’s all worth it,_ Lena thinks. _It’s more than worth it if it means having Lori._

“Y’know,” Lena murmurs, head lolling to the side as her eyelids droop. “I was starting to think I couldn't finish the pregnancy. The pre-partum depression-” She laughs. “It went out with the baby. I can do stuff and work, and _be productive_ again!” she rambles. “And I don’t have to feel bad about letting you do all the work-”

“Shh, shh,” Kara coaxes, bending over to plant a kiss on Lena’s cheek. “You still have to recover, but we’re moms now. We still have to take care of Lori.”

 **_my blurry lines, my messy life_ ** **_  
_ ** **_come into focus and in time, maybe_ **

Lena smiles tiredly. “‘Kay,” she sighs. “I’m gonna be such a good mom,” Lena manages before she slips away, fingers still interlocked with Kara’s.

 **_i can heal, and i can breathe_ ** **_  
_ ** **_'cause i can feel myself believe_ ** **_  
_ ** **_that everything changes_ **

Kara settles onto the spare bed at the side of the hospital room, propping herself with pillows, holding the baby with strong arms and her entire heart.

“You’re so cute,” she smiles, whispering the words so Lena doesn’t wake up. “And it’s only been two hours but you’re here, and I love you more than anything in the world.”

Compared to the unconditional love she feels for Lena, this feels so new and _different,_ because _this_ is the product of their love. _This_ is the product of the eight years they’ve spent together and four years they’ve been married.

“When we get home, we’re going to show you your room. It’s perfect. The walls are grey and all of your toys are in there. You’re going to love it so much.

“And you’ll grow up with the best moms ever, and we’ll love you and keep you safe. There won’t be a star in the sky you can’t reach,” she promises, holding Lori close to her heart, and Lori snuggles closer, presses herself against the steady promise of Kara’s heart, and they drift off together.

Alex returns, Big Belly Burger in a hand, and snaps a picture of the new family fondly.

 **_oh, my heart's at the wheel now_ ** **_  
_ ** **_and all my mistakes_ ** **_  
_ ** **_they make sense when i turn them around_ ** **_  
_ ** **_everything changes_ **

For the first time in nine months, Lena feels free of the burdens of pregnancy. She’s not depressed, not in pain, not feeling helpless as Kara keeps her alive. For the first time in so long, she feels in control and like her pre-pregnancy self again, and it makes her endlessly happy.

 **_what i thought was so permanent fades_ ** **_  
_ ** **_in the blink of an eye_ ** **_  
_ ** **_there's a new life in front of my face_ **  
**_and i know in due time every right thing will find its right place_ **

“It’s so crazy how everything just fell into place after she was born,” Lena sighs.

“Yeah,” her wife nods in agreement. “It really is.”

 **_so i swear i'll remember to say we were both born today_ ** **_  
_ ** **_'cause everything changed_ **

//

Soon after birth, Lena and Kara had slipped into their respective roles, Lena feeding the child while Kara cheered her on with sweet words of encouragement. Lena not only felt like herself, but a whole new person as well that she was slowly learning how to be.

Lori Luthor-Danvers grows up to be a bright and happy young girl, reflecting Kara’s personality, to Lena’s relief. She had Lena’s dark hair for the first couple of years, which then faded to a dirty blonde.

She has Lena’s face, her well-defined jaw and facial structure, but her softness and gentleness as she takes care of her stuffed animals screams _Kara._

On the first day of pre-school, both parents are absolutely terrified to let their daughter roam free in the presence of adults that aren’t themselves, but when the door swings shut behind them, and the cries and loud chatter of the school fades into silence, Lena turns to Kara and grips her arms tightly, eyes glistening with tears, and it sweeps them back to every memory they’ve had in the past twelve years.

Lori is a gift, sent straight from the stars, because it challenges them to work harder than ever, teaches them so much about themselves, and it through the arguments interspersed with Lori’s blood-curdling screams, it brings them closer together.

They spend more time with each other and the child, and a new love buds between them and their daughter, a new and unfamiliar but unforgettable feeling unlike anything else Lena realizes is _family._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really proud of this one :) and no, not because of my writing, but I have to credit the song that inspired me and [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK6OiJ2sn_o) that helped me write basically everything.
> 
> And the fact that I got this done and posted in time for day 5.
> 
> i have [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	6. day six: warm (she says i smell like safety and home)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song "She Keeps Me Warm" by Mary Lambert (how fitting).

The first time it happens, they’re on a field trip in the seventh grade.

The National City Science Museum is cold, too cold, for an overcast day in spring, and the second Lena steps inside, she regrets leaving her jacket on the bus.

_Great. Four hours of standing in the arctic._

The cool air sets her mood off immediately, and she follows the tour guide in her mini-group around different rooms and displays, trying her best to give the woman her full attention— science perks her interest, especially when the tour guide starts rattling about surface tension and polar molecules— but the fact that she’s focused on rubbing her arms to keep them warm distracts her.

She only picks up a few points at every station, and when they’re given free time in a room with several hands-on activities, she sticks to the hand warmer section the entire time.

That is, until a girl in her group, blonde, blue eyes, glasses, just slightly taller than her comes up to her. They’ve never interacted before outside of class, but she knows her name is Kara Danvers and she gets bullied for being Alex Danvers’s monster of an adopted sister.

Lena gives the girl a smile that doesn’t quite reach the corner of her eyes.

“You seem cold,” she comments. Lena’s eyes drop to the hoodie tied around her waist.

“Nope. Not cold,” she turns away and continues making hand warmers to stuff up her sleeves.

“Lena, here,” she unties the large bluish hoodie from her waist and sticks it out for Lena to wear.

“Not cold,” she insists, but her body betrays her as a shiver runs through her body. “Fine.”

The hoodie is too big for her; it swallows her, reaches several inches past her fingertips, and falls halfway to her knees. 

It smells like Kara. It smells sweet with a hint of cinnamon, and she buries her hands in the pockets and dips her face into the neckline and follows Kara to another station.

It’s when she notices that Kara is wearing jeans. _Tight_ jeans. And she no longer has a hoodie to cover her, well-

Lena’s throat suddenly feels thick and she clears it, burying herself deeper into the large hoodie to hide her clearly flustered expression.

“This is really warm,” her words are muffled by the hoodie. “Thanks, Kara.”

“No problem,” she dismisses politely, and the two work on trying to identify different white powders and transparent liquids that look identical.

They finish identifying the powders as well as the row of clear liquids in record time (Kara forgets to waft while smelling the hydrochloric acid but as a Kryptonian; it’s not dangerous, but it still affects her heightened sense of smell), and their names go at the top of the leaderboard.

Kara high-fives Lena, a goofy grin on her face, and they sit together on the bus on the way back to school. Lena doesn’t want to give back the hoodie, but she does. Reluctantly, she slips it off and misses the scent and the warmth, and she hands it back to Kara, who makes no move to tie it around her waist. Instead, she slips it on with a smile and waves goodbye as her parents come to pick her up. Lena regrets giving it back.

She decides that Kara is nothing like people claim she is.

After all, it’s a one-time thing.

//

It’s not a one-time thing.

The next time that happens, it’s during the following year, during their swim unit during Fitness. Naturally, Kara is really good at it, and Lena struggles with her turns, along with the majority of students, and they get out of the pool to watch their coach demonstrate them.

Lena doesn’t want to use her towel because she’ll have a wet towel at the end of practice. So she crouches, knees pulled up to her chest, rubbing her arms again to warm herself up as goosebumps rise all over her skin.

Kara appears next to her, and Lena has to avert her eyes to avoid doing things that are out of her control.

“Cold?”

“Nah.”

“Lena, I can see your goosebumps.”

“Hmph.” 

“I’ll keep you warm,” Kara offers jokingly.

“Sure.” Lena scoots over about half a centimeter towards Kara, and she can practically feel the heat radiating from Kara.

“Stand up.”

When Lena does, she uses her arms to cover her body self-consciously.

“C’mere,” Kara holds her arms out and hugs her. She’s wet too, and it doesn’t do much, but Kara is warm and she blocks off the cool air on Lena’s skin, and she relaxes into the embrace. It doesn’t stop her cheeks from flushing entirely.

She doesn’t think much about it either. Or tries not to think about slide of the bare skin against skin, or how good Kara looks in that swimsuit-

She squeezes her eyes shut until she has to jump back into the water, and next time, she remembers to bring an extra towel to keep warm.

But she likes Kara’s arms better.

//

In their eighth grade year, rain begins to pour unexpectedly as Lena waits at the bus stop for a ride home.

Everyone else has an umbrella. Not that they’re willing to share with a Luthor.

She should’ve seen it coming, but she doesn’t, and Kara walks up to her, blonde hair plastered to the sides of her face, clothes soaked through, and instead of the gloomy expression Lena wears, she’s grinning.

“Hi, Lena.”

“Hi.”

“You cold?”

“No. Not cold.” In fact, she’s wearing a hoodie.

She discounts the fact that it doesn’t help because it’s rain-soaked and it sticks to her skin like toilet paper on a wet toilet seat.

“I’m warm,” she offers.

“You’re a living furnace. You’re always warm.” Lena retorts under her breath.

Kara moves closer. “Well, now you have a living furnace next to you. And you’re passing off a very good opportunity to hug this soaked furnace.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

Kara hugs her anyway, and Lena does nothing to stop her, because even in the midst of rain, Kara still radiates warmth.

Lena takes this opportunity to rest her forehead on Kara’s sweater. Kara holds her close with both arms, reaching behind her backpack and pulling her close, and all Lena can do is hope Kara can’t feel her racing heart as the scent of Kara and rain engulfs her senses.

//

When Lena graduates at sixteen, she doesn’t expect to see Kara again. She doesn’t expect Kara to walk in with Clark Kent from _The Daily Planet_ and interrogate her about the explosion aboard the venture. She doesn’t recognize her, not at first.

She recognizes her when she looks into those blue eyes and sees the familiarity in them. But Kara’s changed, and she’s changed since childhood, and they act like strangers until they become best friends.

And slipping back into that role with Lena feels so comfortable and easy, and she knows somewhere inside that Lena will be one of the ones that stay.

//

Things go out of control once Kara reveals she’s Supergirl, and she and Lena keep getting hurt and she keeps blaming herself for it.

Sometimes, even though she’s warm enough, she hugs her blanket and pretends it’s Lena, always cold, in her arms seeking her warmth.

And when Lena traps her in the Fortress with kryptonite, she's never felt colder. Her fingers are numb, her throat pricks strangely, and she hacks weakly, throat and chest burning with every breath. But she deserves it. She deserves this mess she put herself into, she deserves the seemingly endless pain as kryptonite sears her from the inside, she deserves to die, encased in the block of ice, surrounded by kryptonite in the slowest, most painful way possible because she <i>hurt</i> and <i>betrayed</i> her, while very much knowing betrayal was her one weak spot, her Achilles' heel.

She only breaks out with the thought that Lena's intention was not to kill her, but to hurt her in the worst way possible, and she's done just that.

Meanwhile, across the city, Lena sits in front of the fire in bundles of blankets, the harsh orange glow of the flames casting eerie shadows across the room. For the first time, the fireplace doesn't evoke a feeling of warmth in Lena, but it feels distant and cold, and the blankets feel to thick and heavy on her shoulders.

For months, Lena is cold. But she gets used to it.

When Lena apologizes and they attempt to be friends again, it doesn’t work because there’s a new tension between them that neither can distinguish from unfamiliarity. Kara can't seem to pull Lena in one of her warm embraces due to a seed of uncertainty and strange sensation that starts low in her gut and spreads to the rest of her body when she does so. Though their conversations are whole-hearted, and at times, slightly friendly, she can't shake off the feeling that she's holding back. And Lena is holding back as well.

That's when she realizes she’s in love with Lena and she has been for too long.

Coincidentally, she tells her in the midst of winter when they’re both in Metropolis to visit Clark and the Metropolis branch of L-corp, and when Lena happily tells her she returns the feelings, she wraps her arms around Lena in what might be one of the warmest hugs yet.

Kara ducks her head to murmur in Lena’s ear, “I’m in love with you, and I have been for too long, and I can’t stand waiting any longer.”

It is in that moment where she pulls back slightly to claim Lena’s mouth in a passionate kiss.

The kiss warms Lena’s entire body, even as the snow continues to fall heavily around them. Kara takes out her cape to shield her from the biting wind, and this time, it’s not only physically warm, but it lights Lena up from the insides and spreads to the tips of her fingers and casts a comforting warmth that lingers long after Kara’s pulled away.

“I love you,” she whispers, breathless, and Kara wraps her in the special Kryptonian fabric.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	7. day seven: yellow (if there's a place to grow in your heart, let me know)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rao, Krypton’s red sun is said to be a red dwarf in the comics but a red supergiant in some others. (note that i’m simply a person who knows no more astronomy than the average person who studied it for two days and stopped afterward but was still fascinated by it. So, if anyone knows better, correct me if I’m wrong.)
> 
> Just let me nerd out for a minute: Krypton is believed by some to be a much larger planet than Earth. This makes sense because Kryptonians would need a lighter bone structure in order to live on their planet with a higher gravitational force (more mass = more gravitational force). This also explains why they can fly on Earth (even if it’s the yellow sun that gives them powers, but LET ME SAY THIS SCIENTIFICALLY)
> 
> On the H-R diagram, the red dwarfs are part of the main sequence but have such low luminosity and mass. I’m not sure how Krypton would survive, because it’s larger than Earth. However, if it’s a red supergiant, it would have a really high luminosity and a much larger mass than our sun. So, the closest thing to our yellow dwarf of a star on the H-R diagram luminosity and mass-wise, are red giants. Therefore, I headcanon Krypton to be a red giant, since Kryptonians have a very similar structure to humans and most likely would not have been able to survive the yellow sun if its radiation and luminosity was very different.
> 
> by the way, this actually has no relevance to what you're about to read. :)

_Once Krypton maintained complete control of their planet’s resources, plants were just forms of decoration. They had other forms of energy that created the oxygen they needed to live and to soak in the carbon dioxide in the air. Because they had this control, members of the science guild were looking to utilize every square inch of the planet’s surface._

_As a result, plants were ripped up, deemed unnecessary, and were never grown again._

_But Kara Zor-El, a member of the science guild snuck a sunflower plant, roots and all, and planted it in her room. It’s by far, her favorite flower, and the only flower left on Krypton._

_Or the only flower left on Krypton before it exploded._

_When she crash lands on Earth in a field of grass, she’s instantly overwhelmed. The air feels and smells so fresh, and once she settles in, she asks Eliza to visit the nearest flower shop to find flowers she was once familiar with as a child._

_She gets drawn to the sunflowers immediately. They’re yellow._

_“The sunflowers are yellow,” she gapes._

_“Are yours red?” Eliza asks._

_“Yeah, they are,” she murmurs, reaching a hand out to touch a soft petal, as yellow as the Earth’s yellow sun._

_Yellow is immediately her favorite color._

//

The week before Valentine’s day in Kara’s junior year, she gets a single sunflower in her locker, accompanied by a note.

_A sunflower isn’t just a flower. It’s a magnificent living thing, growing and shining and reaching for the sun. Its petals are a soft yet bright yellow, just like the sun, and they follow it wherever it goes._

_Nice to know,_ she notes, before folding it up again. _And I appreciate the sunflower._

It leads her nowhere, but her lips still tug into an inevitable smile as her fingers caress the soft petals. Whoever this person is, they know she loves sunflowers. She feels warm inside at the thoughtful gift.

But she needs to find out who gave her this gift. And she’s only told three people about her love for sunflowers.

“Kenny!” she bounds over to him, grinning widely, the sunflower in hand. “Did you put this in my locker?”

“Hey, Kara! And nope, I did not,” he answers, narrowing his eyes at the beautiful flower. “Did Alex?”

“Why would she? It’s a week ‘till Valentine’s day and she wouldn’t do something like that,” Kara scoffs, pushing her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose. “Unless she’s throwing me off to make me think I have a secret admirer…” 

“Hey, Kara, what’s up?” Alex appears behind her. “Oh, that’s a pretty sunflower! Did Kenny give it to you?”

Kara presses her lips together. “Well, that answers my question. Thanks, Kenny! Bye, Alex!”

“Lena!” 

She finds her lab partner she most definitely _does not_ (emphasis on ‘not’) have a crush on during lunch.

“Hey, Kara? What’s up? I did my section of yesterday’s titration lab, just to let you know.” she smiles up at Kara, tapping the area of the table to invite her to sit down. 

“What’s wrong?” she frowns at Kara’s expression.

Delicately, she takes out the sunflower from her backpack. “Someone left this in my locker and I don’t know who. It’s not Alex or Kenny, so it has to be you because I haven’t told anyone else about the sunflowers. It can’t just be anyone because everyone’s out there giving roses!”

Lena shakes her head, eyeing the flower oddly. “I don’t think-”

The bell cuts her off, and Lena jumps out of her seat. “Gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow in Chem!”

And she’s off to her next class.

//

The sunflower sits heavily on the back of her mind like a weighted blanket during her calculus class (thank Rao she learned it years ago). Who would do such a thing? Or, who would even know such a thing?

When Kara gets home from school, she fills an empty milk bottle vase with water and sticks it inside, frowning at the already wilting petals.

//

She receives her second sunflower the next day in her seventh period. When she puts down her backpack to take out her AP Chemistry, it’s slightly unzipped, another identical sunflower sticking out of the hole.

Like the previous sunflower, a note is wrapped around the stem delicately, and she pulls it out, eyes skimming quickly over the words, scrawled in a sophisticated, delicate handwriting.

_Like all plants, sunflowers need sunlight to exist and live and grow and flourish. When the sun rises, the flower faces east, ready to catch the giant flaming ball of light as it rises over the horizon and engulfs the land in its warmth. As the sun rises in the sky and begins to set, sunflowers follow it, watching the brilliant colors in the sky, petals waving with a whispered goodbye at the sun’s eventual sinking that marks the end of the day._

She blinks at the note. It’s not affectionate, let alone anything other than informative. The information is nice to know, but it’s obvious, and she pins the note to her corkboard above her desk when she gets home, setting the second flower in its spot beside the first one without a second thought.

//

“Alex!” she hisses when she passes by. “Who would do this? I don’t know anyone that knows about me except for you, Kenny, and Lena! Did you tell anyone?” The last question is punctuated by a glare and an arched eyebrow.

“No, I didn’t, I swear! Just appreciate that someone likes you before it ends, Kara.”

And with that, Alex walks away.

Kara sighs, left staring at her open locker. The third sunflower is upright, stuck to the bottom with a lump of blue clay, and the note lies untouched next to the flower.

_Even though we may be different sunflowers in different fields, we face the same sun, and we watch the same sunset. No matter how far apart we are, we are connected by the sun._

And then, the rest of the note is empty, but she flips it over, just to make sure, and one sentence is scrawled, in the middle of the paper.

_When sunflowers can’t find the sun, they’ll face each other._

“That’s cool,” she mutters aloud, folding the note back up. 

//

The next day is a Saturday, but she doesn’t expect one. 

At 11:11, she gets a text from an unknown number, a picture attached to it.

The picture shows a fourth sunflower, pinned under the windshield wiper of Alex’s car. Under it, is a long text.

_The sun isn’t going to stay forever. It’ll go down, only to rise again the next day. But the return of the sun doesn’t promise sunlight like every other day. There’s always the possibility that something will be there, covering us from the thing we need most._

The word _us_ stands out. Her face scrunches at the use of the pronouns. Yesterday, it was _we_ , and now it’s _us._

She’s still puzzled at this mysterious person. It’s almost creepy, but paired with the sunflower, it spreads affection and warmth throughout her body.

Kara plucks the fourth flower from the car and sticks it into the jar. Just in time to see the first petal of the first flower fall off. It drifts slowly to the ground, and though it’s silent, it feels like the loudest thing she’s ever heard.

//

Kara’s so prepared for another sunflower on Sunday she almost rips out her hair from anxiety when it’s nine o’clock and she still hasn’t gotten one.

 _Ugh, Kara,_ she scolds herself. _Maybe he’s busy. Or this was all a joke to see how stupid I am._

//

The next sunflower shows up on her porch when she opens the door in the morning on Tuesday. Instead of putting the sunflower in the vase as soon as she can, she spends too much time reading over the next note over and over, with the hopes that there’s a clue or hint to who this person is.

_I’ll be there the day the sun decides to fail on us, and I’ll protect you from all the insects that are trying to destroy you, people that will cut you down and make you wilt, even in the presence of sunlight. I’ll protect you from the heavy rains that try to drown you, keep you away from the animals that try to flatten you. I’ll love you and face you, even when you’re being cut so people can use you for your beauty._

“Kara, why are you blushing?” 

Alex laughs at her horrified face.

“What? I am?”

“Your face is bright red.”

“Are you sure this isn’t you?” She hands the note to Alex. “Why would you even do such a thing?”

Hazel eyes widen at the note. “Ooh,” she sings. “Kara has a secret admirer. Seriously, Kara, this is poetic stuff!”

“Oh, stop it,” she shoos her sister away and sighs, beyond frustrated that she can’t figure out who would do such a thing.

//

On Valentine’s day, she receives a text, from the same unknown number. This time, there’s no picture.

_And so when I say, “I’ll be your sunflower,” it means I’ll be there. Always and forever._

_Because I’ll be here when the sun isn’t. I’ll be here when you’re left alone in the dust._

<https://youtu.be/FunMQXDeBc4>

Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Kara clicks on the link reluctantly.

The song starts, a complex plucking pattern on the guitar, and when the singer begins to sing, the song is light and warm, like a lullaby. She assumes the next paragraph on the notes has to do with the lyrics.

_I’ll be here when the sky is gray, and when hope hides away. I’ll be here when you can’t stand up, and when love isn’t enough. I’ll be here when you’re in the dark and when you need a spark. Because I’ll shine for you and you know I would._

_So if there’s a place to grow in your heart, let me know, because I’ll be your sunflower._

Kara inhales sharply when another picture is sent, and she can see an arm holding the phone as they take a selfie, but their face is cut off. All she can see is the arm holding the phone, and she spots the edge a dull-green sweater, hanging loose on the person’s arms. A midnight tuft of hair makes it into the picture, but nothing else.

When she zooms in on the background, she spots a vending machine solely for water, and Kara snorts.

There’s only one vending machine that evil in all of Midvale, and it’s at her school.

 _Come find me,_ the text says, and her heart skips a beat.

//

“Alex!” she pants, not from the walk upstairs (she’s still an alien in this reality), but the fact that she’s beyond excited and nervous and _scared_ means she can’t breathe well. “Can you drive me to school?”

Alex glares at her from her homework. “Why?”

“Um, I left my jacket.”

“Idiot- Wait, it’s around your waist.” her narrowed eyes narrow further until her pupils are swallowed by her eyelids. 

“I mean, my PE uniform. It’s in my locker.” she stammers, reaching behind her head to pull the elastic out of her hair to hide her red-tipped ears.

“Fly there.”

“No powers, remember?”

“Ugh, fine,” she complains, snatching her keys. “You’re paying me five dollars, and you’re taking the bus home with the afterschool kids.”

Kara shrugs. “Okay.” 

Finding this mysterious person is worth more than five dollars anyway and sitting on a bus next to twenty immature high schoolers for five minutes.

She practically jumps out of the car before it stops, clutching her phone in a hand, the other waving to Alex before she sprints to the vending machines.

There’s one person there, and she’s bending down to pick up a plastic water bottle from the machine.

“Lena,” Kara states, surprised. _Where’s the person?_ “What are you doing here?”

From the machine, she pulls out five flowers.

It’s when she realizes the raven hair matches the picture, and she’s wearing a large green sweater. Kara's heart soars in her chest, and it takes every ounce of her self-control and more to anchor herself to the ground. Kara gapes, and her brain stops working.

“Lena! I-It was _you_ this entire time?” Blue eyes widen incredulously. “But y-you said-”

“No, Kara,” She’s as calmer than the slight breeze that blows over the campus. “The bell didn’t let me finish and you _assumed_ it wasn’t me. So,” she holds out the sunflowers. “Happy Valentine’s Day,”

Kara can’t move.

Lena’s arms drop to her sides as her face falls. “Sorry, I just wanted to make you feel special. It’s okay if you don’t like me back.”

“No, _no_!” Kara interrupts, darting over to Lena. “I like you too. Like not as a friend. Like, like-”

She’s cut off when Lena’s lips meet her cheek, which flushes a crimson red.

“The feeling is mutual,” Lena laughs, holding out the flowers again. “So are you gonna take these or not?”

“Yeah,” she breathes, fidgeting with her glasses, and takes the five flowers, pressing her nose to it to smell it. The scent is light, but it smells nice. _And like home._

When she adjusts it to pull out her phone and snap a picture, a note falls out, and this time, she’s eager to read it.

_Five plus five is ten. Ten roses means “you’re perfect,” because you are. Saturday, Chinese takeout, Midvale park at the gazebo? I know it’s your favorite. Your choice, come or not, I don’t mind._

_Your sunflower,_ _  
_ _L_

Kara swears her heart swells, and she nods firmly and frantically. “Yes, I’ll be there. I’ll definitely be there.” She grins, wide and bright, and clutches the stems close to her heart.

Lena’s phone buzzes and she looks at the contact. Her face falls, just a little. “I gotta go, sorry, but I’ll see you in a couple of days?”

Kara smiles fondly. “Yeah, see you.”

As Kara turns around to leave, she stops mid-pivot. “But, thank you, Lena, for doing all this,” she gestures to the sunflower. “I’ve never gotten a Valentine’s day gift and this made me feel really, really special.”

Lena flushes slightly and her eyes dart downwards to her feet, a shy smile tugging at her lips. “Of course!”

“Oh, and,” Kara notices a familiar plant she’s done research on in her peripheral vision, and snips a flower off, handing it to Lena.”

“I know this won’t last, but think of it as a ‘thank you’ gift from me.”

Though the flower is small, no larger than two inches across, Lena lets out a shaky exhale as she takes it.

“Plumerias. They’re my favorite. Thank you. This means the world to me.” Her smile is genuine, the corners of her eyes crinkling happily, and she sniffs the flower. 

“See you soon?” Kara laughs. Their exchange of words is quiet now, comfortable and light-hearted.

“Yeah, see you,” Lena echoes, and Kara darts in for one last hug and a peck on the cheek before pulling away.

After Lena disappears around the corner, Kara remains, smiling like the complete idiot she is, and breathes deeply. Her cheeks ache, yet the smile can’t be wiped off her face.

When she returns home, she holds out the sunflowers obviously, just to see Alex’s reaction.

She squeezes each flower into the vase, one at a time, and when she places the last one in, she catches a tag on the stem.

_A silk sunflower, for you. It won’t follow the sun, but unlike the sun, it’ll stay with you forever. <3 _

Kara’s heart swells like the crescendo of a symphony, and sits on her bed to daydream about sunflowers and green eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that link leads to the music video of ["Sunflower" by The Weepies](https://youtu.be/FunMQXDeBc4), and it still remains one of my favorite songs to this day.
> 
> This chapter is inspired by [Thirteen Roses on ff.net](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7507405/1/Thirteen-Roses) by Katberry. All excerpts about the sunflowers are from a lil poem I wrote last year, the metaphorical sunflowers being my best friends.
> 
> check out my [twitter](https://twitter.com/starsndsilence) and [tumblr](https://haylssunflowerx.tumblr.com)!


	8. day eight: beach (you put your arms around me and i'm home)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "Arms" by Christina Perri.

It's not a secret that Lena Luthor doesn't exactly like going to the beach.

For one, she's always working, and two, she's not a fan of wasting away under the sun to increase melanin in her skin when she can stay indoors and pale and work. And, she hates the ocean. She hates every large, moving body of water with a passion because she can't bear to do something that might unlock the box of memories shoved deep, deep down.

In fact, she hasn't been to a beach solely to enjoy herself for... she can't remember the last time.

So when Kara proposes a plan to head to the beach, her first instinct is a 'no'.

"Lena," Kara whines, warm hands grasping pale hands pleadingly.

She thinks about it.

"Come on! When was the last time you smelled the salt in the air or felt the cool wind in your face? When was the last time you felt the sand between your toes or heard the waves crashing against the shore or the sound of seagulls or children screaming because they touched the waves?" Kara rambles. She hasn't been to the beach as much as she would like to, and she's a hundred and ten percent ready to go there.

"You sound like a commercial. And there was no last time," Lena sniffs. "I rather stay inside."

"Lena!" Kara admonishes, ready to carry the woman to the beach. "It's cooler there, you won't regret it."

"I better not," she mutters, and lets herself get dragged out the door.

//

They arrive an hour before sunset and lay their towels on the sand. Though they're next to each other, Lena insists on staying in the shade, and Kara insists on laying in the sun, so they put their towels next to a large rock where the shade meets the sunlight.

Every ten minutes, they move slightly to the east. In reality, Lena could stay and only Kara would have to move, but something in her just wants to stay close to Kara.

Kara takes a time-lapse of the sunset, and Lena pulls out a flask of alcohol. By the speed Lena is drinking and the scrunched up expression she makes at the first swallow, it's strong.

"Can I?" she asks, reaching a hand tentatively towards the alcohol.

"Sure."

She takes out another flask, and Kara rolls her eyes as they take a sip together.

They don't dare to move once the sun goes down, or even when the sky glitters with stars and bioluminescence has lit the waves in an ethereal glow.

She can feel the alcohol coursing through her veins, and she lays on her back to gaze at the stars.

Kara wonders if there are any other worlds looking at their stars just like them.

//

The silence is comfortable between them, the only sound the faint roar of the waves as it crashes against the sand and the occasional breeze.

"Lena?"

The word is tentative and slow, and it captures her attention. Kara knows it's too late to take back what she said, even if it's just Lena's name. The alcohol removes all filters and walls she has, and the words and emotions begin to spill.

"Yeah?"

The following words are slow and quiet as well, as if unsure. "I've been thinking about things a lot. Y'know, you, me, Alex... " She trails off as an unexplainable feeling sweeps over her, so strong she probably would've fallen over if she were standing.

"Woah, woah, woah," Lena sits up quickly and leans in, squinting in the dim light of the moon. "Are you crying? What's wrong?"

Kara lifts a hand to her cheeks and her thumb returns glistening. "I'm crying?" she gives a weak laugh. "Oh.'

"What's wrong?" she repeats, turning to face her. Kara knows Lena well. This means she's willing to listen and she has her full attention. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I was thinking about my biological parents, how they," her voice trembles, and more tears begin to fall, but she speaks through them, voice growing shakier. "Died in a fire, and then how I lost Jerimiah after that, and how I lost Alex when she got her memory wiped-" Her voice drops into a forced whisper.

She's listening quietly, sapphire eyes gleaming with curiosity, and nods, a signal for Kara to continue.

"I-I don't think I can lose any more people and j-just the thought of losing y-you," her voice breaks, and Lena takes Kara's hands in hers, cradling them softly. A pale thumb runs over the back of Kara's hand. She seems to loosen up slightly, bringing a hand away temporarily to wipe at the tears before she continues with a deep breath.

"I can't lose you. If I did, I-I don't know what I would do."

"Wait," the Irish woman leans forward to wipe tear gently. "Why did you think you would lose me? If you need to tell me anything, I'm here, and I'm listening," she coaxes, and Kara manages a firm nod.

Nonetheless, her next inhale is shakier than the last, but she pushes through. "I'm just me, Kara Danvers, reporter at CatCo, and you're _you_ ," she gestures to Lena.

"You just pointed to all of me." she points out.

"Yeah. You're all of you," she confirms with a weak laugh."But you're a genius, Lena! Chess prodigy, graduated MIT at _nineteen_ , CEO at twenty-four, and then there's me."

Kara's words are punctuated with a loud sniff, and another tear rolls slowly down her cheek, the tear illuminated by the moonlight. "I was an orphan, adopted early on. No one liked me in school, and people are just starting to talk to me. You're one of my only friends but you're-"

She cuts off, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Kara?"

The hold on her hand moves up to her elbow, and Lena has to scoot so their legs are touching, but they don't mind.

"Sorry, I just- I'm a mess. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. You shouldn't be sorry for telling me all this."

"Okay." The faintest twitch of a smile pulls at her lips.

"I see you as a friend, but also this person that's too good for me. You're too good for this world, and then all of a sudden, you seem unreachable." The words tumble out quickly and quietly.

Lena laughs, pretty and sweet. "If anyone is too good for this world, it's you. You rose from this horrible childhood, and you were nothing but amazing and sweet and kind to me the second I met you, even when most people wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot pole."

"Thank you, Lena," Kara sniffs. "That means a lot to me."

"Of course," she presses her lips together in sympathy. "What makes you think I'm this unreachable person?"

Kara deflates. "I don't know, honestly. It's just that I see you as more than I can have." Her voice dips into the quietest of whispers, and her gaze is locked between her feet.

"Kara," Lena breathes deeply, once, twice. "Look at me."

When Kara does, Lena can hear the uncertainty and the tremble of her exhale as she lifts her head.

"Lena," Kara starts before Lena can say a word and break her heart. "Do you ever regret being my best friend?"

"No." The answer is firm and sure. "No, not at all. In fact, you're the best thing that's happened to me," she admits. "But no, I don't regret it one bit, even if you told me that we had no chance."

"Chance at what?" Kar breathes, and she knows she's on thin ice. One wrong move and everything crumbles before her eyes and her worst fears come to life.

"Y'know," she mumbles. "An 'us'."

When Kara sucks in a loud breath, Lena can't bear to make eye contact with the reporter.

"Lena," she says quietly, lifting a hand to the other woman's cheek. This time, it's Kara who says the words, "Lena, look at me."

Lena looks at Kara, but she can't meet her eyes.

"I love you, and there's nothing you can do to change that. But to clarify," she points to herself. "I like you, and... "

Her finger turns to Lena, waiting, but not expecting an answer. "I like you too," she breathes. "I, very much, feel the same way."

It is only then when green meets blue, and Kara feels her heart swell beyond a capacity known to her.

Lena leans forward to wrap her in a tight, tight hug, and her mouth by Kara's ear, she murmurs, "You're never going to lose me, Kara. I promise."

It's not an _I love you, too,_ but it feels all the same.

Lena rests her head on Kara's chest, palm flat against her steadily beating heart, and they both sigh happily, silence sweeping over them once again. This time, it's a happy silence, until Lena speaks.

"I think I might start going to the beach a bit more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was inspired by multiple parts of multiple fics (too many to count) but the conversation at the end is ultimately inspired by an Erikleen fic on Wattpad (I know, I know), called "Borrowed Hearts" by Forgetaboutitsmalls. Here's the link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/146163367-borrowed-hearts
> 
> i have twitter and tumblr but you already know that :)


	9. day nine: luthor (taking that away would be like taking away half of me)

Lena Luthor does not take pride in being a Luthor.

“Make it a force for good, y’know?” Her eyes are piercing and hard, and Kara bites the inside of her lip, clearly intrigued by this person. She felt a strange connection she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but for now, getting information was first priority.

“Yeah,” she nods, soft blue eyes opposite of tough green ones, flickering between her and Clark. From her peripheral vision, she spots Clark turning to glance at her strangely and she pushes the feeling down. 

She trusts Lena, and she doesn’t know why.

//

“I was wrong.”

He dips his head and purses his lips as she reads through the article, and Kara wants to give him a not-so-light nudge and say, _told you so._

But she’s in Lena’s office, and she was right, she _knew_ she was right about her, and she’s happy.

_See? Not all Luthors have to be bad. Some can rise up from the depths of ashes and still become a force of good._

//

When Kara goes to interrogate Lena about her mother, she sees a curious gleam in the depths of green.

Kara’s no truth seeker, she knows that. But when she gazes into the depths of her eyes, she sees no knowing glint beneath the superficial aloofness in her eyes.

“I looked into her eyes, she knows nothing about Cadmus,” Kara insists back at the DEO, and she wants to pull Alex aside and question her incredulously why she wouldn’t believe Lena when Lena was, well… Lena.

She already knows the answer. Lena is a Luthor, and Luthors come with certain values that are a threat to society. Well, according to society.

_If only people could see her the way Kara Danvers does._

//

“Lori Luthor-Danvers,” Kara breathes, and Lori beams. They’re adopting their first child, and they’re finally making it official.

“Mrs. Luthor,” the guy asks politely, and Kara detects the slightest hint of fear in the almost nonexistent tremble of his voice. “Why keep your last name? Why not strip it with all of its consequences when given the chance?”

Before Lena speaks, Kara knows the answer.

“The Luthor name is a force for good, has been for a decade now, though some people still aren’t willing to believe. But being a Luthor has its own things, just like being part of the Danvers family.” She speaks slowly and chooses her words carefully.

“Kara always said that the Luthor name didn’t deserve me,” she pauses for a heartbeat to gaze fondly at Kara, but continues. “But now, after a decade of turning Luthor-Corp into L-corp, a force for good, and especially with this new generation of Luthors, I think it does. If I hadn’t been a Luthor, I wouldn’t have learned so much about science or technology. I wouldn’t have taken Luthor-Corp from its world domination goal and turned it into this force for helping others. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be who I am today, and I wouldn’t be in National City.”

The man nods understandingly, and Lena continues softly.

“But most of all, I would be stripping the name I was attached to when I met Kara. She makes me proud to be a Luthor. If I hadn’t been a Luthor, I wouldn’t have met her due to business-related things that I won’t further specify, but taking away that name takes away part of who I am.”

Pride glows in Kara’s eyes, and she squeezes Lena’s hand tighter under the table.

“I am a Luthor, and for the first time, I’m proud to be one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when you don't know what to write and finish it in 10 minutes :)


	10. day ten: ice (it's colder than i've ever felt without you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked a friend if I should kill Kara in this episode or have some heroic save last second and she said it was up to me. So yes, I have chosen.

Lex Luthor knows Lena much too well. He knows her strong suits and her Achilles' heels, finding them only to stab a knife there and twist until the damage is irreversible.

This time, he just before he dies, he spits the truth out, eyes dark, ready to take in the horrified expression on Lena’s face before he dies.

“Kara Danvers is Supergirl,” he hisses tauntingly, and when a flicker of pain and hurt and betrayal flashes behind Lena’s hard green eyes, he collapses, relaxing. He’s done. He’s gotten the truth out, and now, Lena is on the brink of collapsing, and he’s happy because he finally got to her.

//

“My article isn’t done but I am,” she groans, slamming her laptop shut.

“Well, then go get some fresh air, save some people, just don’t stay inside,” Alex insists through the coms.

“Fine,” Kara grumbles and slips on her glasses before walking out the door to the park nearby. There are good views and fresh air, and it’s the best option at the moment.

It’s not even five minutes before Alex calls her through her watch.

“Yeah? What’s up?” she asks, stripping her civilian clothes before shooting through the air.

“We have something on the corner of Spates and 83rd. We’re not sure what it is, but there’s a strong electromagnetic signature. Be careful, by the size, it looks like alien weapons.”

“On my way.”

She’s not even finished with the phrase when she darts towards the scene.

“Wait, Supergirl!” Alex warns, a new urgency to her voice. “There’s a kryptonite signature, there’s kryptonite-”

It’s too late. She’s already there, but she can’t sense the Kryptonite and shrugs it off. Probably a mistake on Alex’s part. 

She brushes away the possibility that Alex never makes mistakes on this job.

When she arrives on the scene, it gives her a sense of deja vu, like the gala Lena had invited her to back when Mon-El was new to Earth. Now she just needs a blackbody generator-

The device powers up slowly (thank Rao), and she has time to shoot her laser eyes to meet the beam of light between them before, as always, inches closer and closer until she flies backward against the building.

“Supergirl, are you okay?” The voice in her ear is frantic, and Kara manages a grunt that relaxes Alex on the other end. 

“Yeah. No Kryptonite in sight, though.”

“Hmm, that’s weird.” She can hear Alex scratching at her chin. “Be careful, though.”

“Since when am I ever careful?” she grunts, hurling a piece of cement towards one of the men. As expected, he reduces it to mere molecules before he points the weapon at Supergirl.

Through his mask, she catches his wicked grin, but as she tries to move, the other weapon shoots, short and quick, and she flinches backward as a searing pain jolts through her chest.

From the distance, she hears a familiar voice call her name. _Lena_ _?_

A strong wave of electromagnetic radiation hits her, and the last thing she sees is a sea of green.

(Whether that may be from Kryptonite or Lena’s eyes, she’ll never know.)

//

When she wakes up again, distant scuffing and a muffled scream jolt her to her senses.

She’s in a tiny room, around ten feet both ways, cuffed to the floor. There are no windows, save the one on the door, barely six inches both ways. The entire room isn’t lead-lined, and it’s done on purpose, because when she uses her x-ray vision to see who the noise is coming from, she’s Lena, and the sight makes her stagger backward into the wall.

She’s in a chokehold, a rag stuffed into her mouth, legs pinned down by strong arms. “Lena!” Kara calls out frantically, then louder when there’s no response. “ _Lena!”_

There’s no sign of recognition of the voice in her eyes, and she slumps, defeated onto the ground.

Wait. Her powers. There’s no Kryptonite or red sun in this room.

Her lips morph into a grin and she pulls at her restraints slowly (so the metal doesn't fly everywhere) and the second she gets up to kick the door down, there’s a distinct buzzing sound, and red light drowns the room.

She sees through the door one last time to make sure Lena’s still there, and the last thing she sees in her x-ray vision as it fades is Lena and the man— Otis Graves, Kara recognizes, and her lips twist into a snarl.

The door swings open, and Kara screams Lena’s name just as their eyes lock, and Lex strolls in to stand between the Super and the Luthor. Her restraints pull taut as she pushes, but with the red sun lamps, they dig into her skin with a fierce bite, and she lets out a cry of pain.

“Lena, no!”

Lex’s expressionless face morphs into a maniacal grin, and he swiftly pulls a remote from his pocket, stepping aside just slightly to give Lena front-row seats to the torturing of Supergirl.

His thumbs do a little dance over the buttons, as if unsure which one to press, before landing on one. She has to pray it’s not the button that ultimately kills her in front of Lena.

There’s a faint _beep_ and the whirring of the lamps overhead, and the red begins to fade.

Even before it’s all gone, Kara feels the strength return, and she breaks the restraints, and-

Lex pushes his thumb on the big red button, and then she’s cold.

She hasn’t felt cold since-

Since… 

Since the Fortress, when Lena had trapped her in the block of ice-

 _Oh no,_ she thinks weakly, as thin green veins are painted on her skin, and when she presses her hands against the side of the thing she’s in, it’s cold and smooth, and leaves a wet residue.

Like ice.

She can easily break out; she’s done it before, and she wants to— needs to before the Kryptonite takes the best of her, but she can’t, and she won’t, because the tsunami of deja vu is nothing compared to the green veins of the sole substance that kills her running through every artery and vein in her body. _Everything_ comes back; Lena’s cold, stone face as she steps into the transmatter portal, the numbing cold against her cheeks, her fingertips, her body, just as Kryptonite sears through her capillaries with a heat she’s still not familiar with.

“Lena,” she coughs weakly, collapsing to her knees, and she feels dizzy, she can’t see, but Lena’s face is clear and it’s right there, and she sees-

She sees pure guilt.

Lex’s lips twitch, once, twice, and he slips the remote back to its spot and clasps his hands behind his back, and walks towards Supergirl.

“Supergirl,” he hisses, low and deep, and she struggles to meet his eyes. But she does, mustering every ounce of her strength to give him a death glare that rivals his.

“You know you can break out of this,” he knocks on the thin ice. “There isn’t enough Kryptonite here to take half of you down, and you’re the Girl of Steel.”

Though every word is light, it carries a taunting subtext that makes each word drag her down under the wave that washes over her.

“Supergirl-” Lena is cut off when Otis presses his arm tighter against her throat. She’s openly crying now, eyes red-rimmed and tears streaming silently down her face.

“But you won’t.” he continues, circling the block of ice like a prison guard. “Because of _her_.” He doesn't even speak her name, instead, spitting the pronoun out like a curse, and Kara feels rage boil in the depths of her veins, but it's easily overthrown by the kryptonite.

He swivels to point to Lena, malice gleaming in the depths of his eyes, and returns to his position, hands behind his back as if the sudden break in decorum is too much.

“I know you don’t think you deserve to live, Supergirl. Your entire world died and you were the only one who made it out. You don’t deserve all this.” he sneers. “You _hurt_ my little sister, and you know you deserve whatever you face. And so, you’re going to let yourself-”

Lena's teeth have been grinding, jaw clenched tight, the muscles twitching, and then it all happens in less than a second. But to Kara, it plays out in front of her eyes.

Lena swings her legs forward, lifting her into the air, and though it temporarily pushes her trachea against Otis’s arm, she uses the momentum to kick backward. The heel of her right shoe rams directly into his groin, and before he’s down on the ground, she’s taken his gun and shot Lex in the chest twice. She turns to Otis and reaches down slowly, slowly. Her eyes meet his and _glare,_ and she places her hand over the kryptonite chunk of his heart. And just as it registers in his eyes, she presses her fingers into the stone and rips out his Kryptonite heart, watch his body shudders on the cold linoleum floor, before he stills completely.

Lena throws the Kryptonite as far away as possible and shoots the ice, once, twice, and it cracks, ice splintering, raining down onto the floor they’re standing on. Green streaks of Kryptonite escape into the air, too little to hurt Supergirl.

“Lena,” Kara whimpers, and Lena’s heart breaks as the city’s hero falls onto her knees, chin tucked tight against her chest, face in her hands as she sobs brokenly into them.

“Come on, we have to get out of here before we get caught, and then I’ll take care of you,” Lena assures, darting to Supergirl’s side to wrap her in a hug that Kara flinches away from at first touch. 

“Can you fly?”

Her voice is soothing, but Kara manages an erratic shake of her head.

Lena presses the button on her transmatter portal watch, and pulls Kara along with her to her penthouse.

She pulls up the blackout curtains along the floor-to-ceiling windows, letting the yellow sun recharge the Kryptonian cells, but she knows that even if Kara feels a hundred percent okay, her mental state is far from that.

“I’m here, baby,” Lena coos, cradling a broken hero in her arms. She freezes as the pet name slips out, but compared to the state of Supergirl in front of her, it means nothing.

“What's wrong?” she tucks a blonde strand of hair behind Kara’s ear and uses a finger to tilt her head upwards just slightly so she can see the fire in her eyes burning out.

“He’s right.”

“Who?”

“Lex,” She spits her name out like a curse. “If you weren’t there, I would’ve- I would’ve let myself die. L-Like last time,”

The last part is whispered and stuttered and a mess, and she’s crying all over again, Kryptonian tears staining Lena’s suit.

“Kara, you _cannot_ feel guilty about this. You were sent here for a mission; the universe knew that we needed help, _I_ needed help, and it brought you here. Your family is alive. They’re in Argo, and they’re doing well, and you have nothing to feel guilty for.”

“But I hurt you!”

Lena flinches at the sudden volume of Kara’s voice, and she tightens her hold around her. 

“Kara, you know I was the one that hurt you.”

The words are quiet but said clearly nonetheless.

"We hurt each other, but I hurt you first," Kara protests. "I hurt you... and I can't believe I thought waiting so long wouldn't hurt you. I was so stupid. So stupid-"

“You're not stupid. You didn't know, and you did what you could to keep me safe, I can't thank you enough for that. It's you who deserves the world, Kara. You don’t deserve someone like me.” she sighs.

“B-But you mean the world to me!” Kara blurts out before she can stop it, but in no way does she regret it. 

This leaves Lena silent for a moment. “I-I do?”

Kara tucks her head into Lena’s neck. “Yeah.”

Lena inhales a shaky breath. “I don’t want you to hurt anymore. I just _wish_ you would know how deserving you are of this life and how much you deserve to be alive.”

The only response is the dejected shake of a head.

“You-”

Kara presses a finger to Lena’s lips and pulls herself closer. “Don’t wanna talk about this now. Just hold me closer,” she whispers.

And Lena does just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p.s. "my article isn't done but i am" is my favorite line in this entire fic
> 
> (this challenge isn't done but i kinda am)


	11. day eleven: travel (and there's nothing i, nothing i rather do; i'm stuck with you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has a decent plot but is horribly executed (like sg writers but you didn't hear that from me) but i hope you enjoy nonetheless!
> 
> (and of course, the chapter has to start with a game of truth or dare)
> 
> the chapter title is from "stuck with u" by ariana grande and Justin bieber.

“Lena, truth or dare?”

It’s another classic game night, with everyone in attendance, and it’s Kara’s turn to ask Lena. When she does, she has a mischievous glint in her eye, and she’s preparing herself to eat the glob of wasabi laying tauntingly on a saucer— the consequence for refusing to tell the truth or follow through with a dare.

“Dare.”

She’s unsure, but it's out now, and she can’t take it back.

Kara beams. “I dare you to take the three days off from work this weekend, starting on Friday. You have to go out of state, and you have to live in an RV.”

“I-” She opens and closes her mouth multiple times, and stares at the wasabi longingly.

“Lena!” Sam glares at her. “This is the easiest dare ever, and yet, there’s even a choice here? Go take the weekend off, I got the company.”

Still, Lena shifts uncomfortably, and Kara wants to smack her softly. Instead, her mouth moves without her consent.

“I’ll come with you.”

From where Alex is pouring herself more scotch, she hears a loud snort, despite her attempts to muffle it, and Kara sends a glare that would burn through her forehead if Alex wasn't immune to it.

“Okay,” Lena finally gives, and to her surprise, a weight lifts off her chest, knowing she wouldn’t have to worry about work for the next three days.

//

Kara pulls up to the penthouse with the rented RV. It’s fairly large and has everything they need for the next three days; it’s practically Kara’s apartment condensed into a thousand square feet on wheels.

Including the queen bed. 

It’s the first thing she notices when she enters, and Kara smothers a cough. “I did think that through.”

Lena shrugs. “We’re adults, it should be fine. But I’m really gay and have a really big gay crush on you so I don’t think I can survive a single night.”

She opts to keep that last sentence out.

Kara wants to gape at the way Lena says it calmly, and her heart sinks, just a little, knowing that Lena, in no way, returns her feelings.

“Okay,” Kara speaks to distract her from her thoughts. “I take the first driving shift. We’re going to Arizona and back and we’ll stop at different stops. Here’s a map,” she scrambles quickly to take out a map printed from Google Maps, and Lena’s green eyes curiously trace the red line that goes from Las Vegas to Zion and Paige in Arizona, and then back.

“We do all this in three days?” she stares at the mileage printed on the side in disbelief. 

“Yeah! It’s a road trip, so essentially, we’re always moving unless it’s nighttime, which, in this case, we’re both asleep.” _On the same bed._

Lena is unfamiliar with road trips, let alone vacations, and she can’t remember the last time she went somewhere entirely unrelated to work purposes.

“I also stocked the refrigerator with tons of microwave food because we’re allowed to be unhealthy for three days--”

Lena frowns.

“But I also put a crap ton of vegetables for you because I know you probably would hate for not bringing them.”

Lena smiles.

//

The first day is fun and relaxed, and Kara and Lena stroll around the smaller neighborhoods in Las Vegas, eating beyond their capacities and buying too many souvenirs to count.

They shower and eat dinner (Kara insists on microwave pizza and Lena takes the time to cook herself a meal, which Kara is amazed that Lena would do that when she could have a meal ready in three minutes), and when it’s time to slip into the covers, Kara hesitates.

“Are you sure? I can sleep on the couch if you want. It’s really soft and I can fit if I curl up-”

Lena throws a pillow at her. “Nonsense.”

They both know they’re not sleeping tonight.

Both women have pushed themselves to the edge of the bed, and though there is almost a foot of space between them, they don’t touch the center of the bed as if it burns.

Lena grumbles under her breath, back stiff from stiffening to avoid rolling to the center of the bed, no matter how bad her conscience tells her to.

“Screw it,” she gives in and rolls over. The strain on her back releases immediately, and she tugs on Kara’s hand. “Scoot closer. I know I’m a Luthor but you don’t have to keep a distance from me.” she jokes, and Kara only shifts a little.

“Kara,” she sighs, exasperated, and freezes slightly. _Am I sounding too desperate?_

Again, a microscopic shift.

Lena reaches out and grabs her and pulls her close. Her chest collides with her back, a small _oof_ sound leaving Lena’s throat, and her face flushes completely when she realizes what she’s done.

“Is this okay?” she mutters, voice on the brink of trembling, but it doesn’t cross the razor’s edge, and she breathes a sigh of relief when Kara nods, relaxing into the position.

They both fall asleep within fifteen minutes.

//

The second day passes by quickly, full of stolen glances and helpless pining, but both oblivious women don't seem to notice.

It’s mainly a repeat of the first day, but with more driving. Driving all day, stopping at landmarks (and at one point, a Chuck E. Cheese’s because Kara wanted to) and National Parks to admire the views and nature away from most of humanity.

Kara doesn’t mind waking up with Lena’s face pressed against her anymore, and Lena would say she enjoys the fact that she’s a light sleeper and is awaken to Kara slinging an arm unknowingly over her waist, or shifting closer to her.

//

The problems arise on the last day of the trip.

Kara’s bottom and tailbone is extremely sore by the time they arrive in Paige, and the clock reads five-thirty, meaning they have twenty minutes to drive to the Grand Canyon to catch the sunset before it disappears behind the rocks.

They don’t make it, but Kara ultimately decides it’s a lot cooler anyway, when billions of stars glitter overhead, each one a prominent pinprick of light in the sky due to the distance from the nearest major city and lack of light pollution.

The moon is in its waning gibbous state, almost full but not quite, and it shines brightly across the canyon, an ethereal glow displaying the layers of the rock and reflecting off the river below.

“It’s so pretty,” Lena breathes, admiring the view from the glass observation deck, and Kara has to bite her tongue to hold back the clichéd _like you._

Instead, Kara murmurs a soft, “Yeah,” breathed out as quietly as the breeze.

Kara and Lena subconsciously press against each other at the unexpectedly cold winds biting at their cheeks, and by the time they reach the RV again, their cheeks are flushed from the cool air.

They have to start setting off towards National City in the evening, and this time, Lena drives.

She happens to completely miss the blinking light that tells her to get the engine checked.

Four hours later, and 200 miles into the middle of nowhere, a strange sputtering sound starts, followed by the loud groan of an engine, and then the strained click of the engine as it fails, and at last, the RV stops altogether.

Lena’s jaw falls open, and she and Kara share a hopeless glance.

“Stay here for the night? We’re a little past halfway to the closest hotel or city, and help will take a while to get here.”

Kara’s head drops and she rests onto her palms. “This was going so well, and now we’re stuck in the middle of Arizona or Nevada, I’m not even sure where, and it’s all my fault that I forced you on this trip. I’m sorry, Lena,” she blurts out, clearly dejected.

“Hey, hey,” She feels a warm hand on her shoulder, and when Kara looks up, Lena finally sees the exhaustion on her face, her half-closed eyelids, dark circles, and deflated posture. “Do not apologize. To be honest, it’s really nice to be away from the office, and I gotta admit, it was also nice to see the Grand Canyon and everything else.”

“But I’m the reason you’re stuck here-”

“But I wouldn’t want to be stuck here with anyone else,” Lena counters immediately, and she places both hands on Kara’s shoulders, trying to ignore the way muscle feels under her palms.

“Really?” The tiny seed of hope in Kara’s blue eyes is enough to make Lena’s heart flip with joy.

“Really.”

“Come up here! I know you like the stars!” Kara calls from the roof of the vehicle. Lena stares at the ladder suspiciously, but climbs anyway, bringing a blanket and some snacks with her.

For the first time since the RV broke down, she pushes away the stress and worries to look at the stars, and it’s just as breathtaking as before. If not, more.

“The stars are beautiful,” she breathes and points to a point of light significantly brighter than the rest. “That’s Mars, but it’s still pretty. And that's Jupiter, and Saturn right next to it.”

While Lena’s eyes are roaming the sky, Kara keeps her gaze locked on Lena’s profile, the way she gnaws at her bottom lip the entire time her eyes flicker beautifully from star to star, and the faint rise and fall of her chest as she breathes out the names of stars and constellations visible to them.

“I love you.”

They both freeze.

Slowly, Lena removes her gaze from the stars towards Kara, and Kara wants to squeeze her eyes shut and disappear forever, but wills herself to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry, I was looking at you and you’re so pretty and it just came out because I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I couldn’t hold it back any longer-”

“And I love you,” Lena interrupts, bringing a finger to Kara’s mouth to silence her.

“No, like, I’m in love and I need to say it or I’m going to spontaneously combust.”

“Oh.”

Kara’s heart drops at the response, and she turns away to blink away the familiar stinging of her eyes.

“Kara, I feel the same way.”

“W-What?” The response is choked, almost, and she brushes away tears in embarrassment.

“I’m in love with you just as much as you’re in love with me.”

“You are? How?” Kara seems to be in awe of this statement.

“What do you mean, ‘how’?” Lena snorts. 

“It’s hard for people to love me. I was an outsider in school until I graduated, and you and Sam and Alex and my colleagues are my only friends now. People still don’t like me, and yet you’re _in love_ with me. Why is that?”

“I think falling in love with you was the easiest thing,” she confesses, and Kara turns her head to look at her, just as Lena does, and their faces are closer than ever and they’re breathing the same air, and it takes all of Kara’s self-control and more to stop herself from kissing Lena.

She looks up at the stars again. “How?”

Lena gazes genuinely into Kara’s eyes, green molding with blue. “It’s so easy to love you, I’m surprised everyone else hasn’t fallen head over heels for you.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised you fell for me,” Lena replies, and lets out a weak laugh.

“What?”

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that we're both the unlikeliest people to fall for each other and we did anyway.”

“Well, the universe has its plans.” Kara moves her face forward just slightly to kiss the tip of her nose. “And I’m glad I'm in love with you.”

Lena shifts onto her side to pull Kara close, just like the first night. This time, she nuzzles her nose into the back of Kara’s neck before planting a kiss there.

Kara sighs, heart content, when a thought pops into her mind faster than lighting.

“Uh, Lena, did you call the towing company?”

“Shoot,” she sits up quickly. ‘No.”

Lena fumbles around for her phone and begins to dial the number, but stops at Kara’s warm laugh.

“You know what?” she slips her phone back into her pocket to hold Kara in her arms. “I rather spend time here with you than in a stupid tow truck. The saving can come later.”

The responding kiss that Kara gives her confirms that.


	12. day twelve: dress up (tonight, i'm dressing up for you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by a prompt i got from a prompt generator! I'm not sure about the exact thing but it was something along the lines of:
> 
> Person A and Person B making excuses and finding ways to be close to each other.

“I hate Halloween,” Lena grumbles, folding her arms over her chest. She sinks into the soft couch, face scrunched up at the sight of the giant bag of Halloween candy.

Kara gapes and sends a look towards Alex, who sends back a half-hearted shrug, before greeting Sam with a soft kiss. Ruby immediately runs to give Kara and Lena hugs; they haven’t seen each other since Ruby started school.

“What are you gonna be for Halloween?” Ruby chimes, bouncing excitedly on the couch to start spouting everything she’s going to wear this year.

Lena glances at Kara, clearly letting her speak, but Kara only scratches the back of her neck uncertainty. “I’m not sure…” She trails off as Ruby’s face falls, and suddenly, she gets an idea.

“Oh! How about you choose for the both of us?” Kara offers, and Ruby perks up, already slipping her phone out of her back pocket in an attempt to search online for cool costumes.

“Kara-”

“Lena!” Kara and Sam cut her off simultaneously, and they burst into a short fit of giggles, before Sam motions to Kara, a gesture to  _ go on. _

“Come on, Lee! It’s not that big of a deal, and it’s for fun anyway! Ruby seems really happy and I’m sure she knows just the thing for you,” she glances over at Ruby with a dazzling smile that she returns, just as bright.

“See?”

“Okay. But, you can’t overdo it, and if I don’t like the costume, you can’t make me wear it.”

Ruby tilts her head, pondering for a second, then grins. “Deal.”

//

Ruby comes in the next day with a bag full of fabrics and props she can’t quite distinguish, and Lena already has prepared herself, having consumed three fingers of scotch.

“Okay, so Auntie Kara, I got you a dog onesie!” She beams, pulling it from the bag. It’s large, extremely soft, and warm, and it hangs a little loose on Kara, but otherwise, it fits.

The buttons are on the back, and Ruby helps put the costume on. 

“I have some accessories,” she continues, and Kara prepares herself for something like a leash (which she definitely would not have worn), but Ruby pulls out an adorable red choker with a tiny bell charm dangling on the front. “And, there’s a wire that runs from the ears to the head, so if you squeeze the ball in your pockets, you should be able to move the ears.”

She steps back, genuinely pleased with herself, and watches, biting back laughter when Kara tries to look at her ears as they flap. 

Lena is unaware of her fond gaze at Kara’s happiness. Her head is tilted just slightly to the left, eyes glimmering with happiness, an inevitable smile tugging at her lips until her cheeks hurt, and she doesn’t notice the soreness until Ruby turns to her, upon which her smile immediately dims.

“Oh, come on, Auntie Lena! It’s not that bad! I promise!” she holds her hands up in the universal sign for surrender, and Lena grumbles to “get on with it before I change my mind.”

She pulls out a long, black and red dress and hands it to Lena. “You’re gonna be a vampire,” she announces, and Alex snorts loudly.

Ruby turns to glare, but instead, they both cast a knowing look at Kara and smirk.

It’s just as expected; Kara can’t stop fumbling over her words when Lena grumpily shuffles out of the bathroom. The sleeves stop just before her wrist, but wisps of thin, black fabric dangle downward. The dress is black, but there’s a layer of bright red underneath that makes it pop. It’s longer than Kara’s used to seeing Lena wear, stopping just above her ankles, intricately-designed lace sewed onto the part that lays on her chest.

“You just have to wear a pair of black heels, curl your hair, and wear this choker— Kara almost chokes at the thing— and that’s it! See? Not too many accessories!” 

Ruby steps back to place her hands on her hips and looks at the two women, looking fairly pleased with herself.

The sudden ring of Sam’s phone makes everyone jump, and she picks it up, mutters a few quick words, and puts it down, before motioning towards the door.

“Sorry we can’t stay longer,” she presses her lips together in a sympathetic gesture. “Sorry, Rubes, we gotta go.”

Ruby curses quietly under her breath.

“Ruby!” Sam exclaims, eyes wide.

Lena takes a much calmer approach. “Ruby, please refrain from using provocative combinations of the English lexicons.”

Ruby blinks, clearly confused, and when it sinks in, she bursts into a fit of laughter and she stumbles towards the door, where Sam promptly gives her a smack on the bottom for her language. “We’ll see you tomorrow outside my house!”

“Okay!” Lena and Kara wear matching smiles on their faces.

//

It is tomorrow. 

Lena has been absolutely dreading this day.

Kara has been absolutely dreading (but also not) seeing Lena in a dress that very well shows off her curves and makes her look unbelievably hot to the point Kara has to look away or she’ll probably spontaneously combust.

“Come on, Lee! We gotta change into the costumes because Ruby and Sam are coming in thirty minutes!” she takes the vampire dress out of the bag and gulps, muttering a few Kryptonian curses under her breath before chucking the thing along with the accessories to Lena, who is curled up on the couch.

“You change first,” she mutters.

“Fine.”

Kara has encountered a problem.

The dog onesie has buttons along the back that go from the top of her tailbone to her neck, and she can’t button them herself, let alone reach half the buttons. When she had tried it on, she had a t-shirt under— and Ruby had helped her button it. 

She has to cool her already-burning face with cold water before she walks out of the bathroom, the back held together.

“Uh, Lena,” Kara gulps at the thought of Lena’s fingers dancing so close to her bare skin. “Can you help me button this?”

“Sure.” She stands up and walks over to the reporter, and Kara lets go of the back.

Lena’s heart rate  _ spikes. _ Her breathing is much more audible as well, but Kara chooses not to bring it up. She starts at the bottom, trying her best to not accidentally brush her fingers against Kara’s well-sculpted back.

She does anyway, the knuckle of her second finger accidentally brushing the skin under the fabric of her bra, and it causes a chain reaction of movements and chemicals.

First, she makes contact with skin, and her cheeks flush to the point they’re prickling with heat, and her hands freeze. The touch burns under her finger, even if it’s just for a split second, but Lena’s heart is now pounding mercilessly against everything— her temple, her ribcage, her stomach— and her breathing is  _ loud _ and definitely ragged. 

At the moment of contact, Kara tenses up, stiffening, and the muscles in her back (I WANT TO cURSE SO bAD BUT I CANNOT) freaking ripple as she does so. Either that, or Lena is hallucinating, and she swears she’s going to pass out.

Fingers shaky, she does the next few buttons wrong, which means undoing them and taking longer to stare at the endless expanse of skin on Kara’s back.

This is not good. Not good at all.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she finishes and pats Kara on the back twice. “There we go.” she croaks.

Her voice is raspy from— she has no idea— but she grabs her vampire dress and makes a run to the bathroom.

Kara is frozen to the ground. At least until Lena disappears into the bathroom, but when she comes back out again, she’s frozen again, because if possible, it looks  _ better _ than last time.

And if she recalls right, her dress has a zipper as well.

“You need help with the zipper?” She blurts out, once again, against her control.

Lena flushes deeply. “Yeah.”

Kara doesn’t even try to look away when she tugs the zipper up her back. As she does that, Lena sweeps her hair to the side to put in bat earrings, and Kara might have purposely slid her thumb along the zipper as she pulled it up.

When they have their outfits on, they sit at the opposite ends of the couch, trying their best to recover and distract themselves, when Kara feels an unexplainable urge, a tug to be close to Lena again. She wants to slap herself for it, but instead, she comes up with an excuse. It’ll buy her maybe thirty seconds, but it’s enough.

“Lena? I forgot to put on the choker. Can you help me with it?” she asks quietly, and to her surprise, Lena doesn’t object or point out that it’s not that hard to put one on without help.

“Sure.”

Kara sweeps her blonde waves to the side, and when Lena’s fingers brush the back of her neck multiple times, the hair stands up, goosebumps erupting in the wake of her touch.

Lena’s breathing is uneven, hot on Kara’s skin due to their close proximity, and she instinctively leans into Lena’s fingers, accidentally grazing her neck, but stops herself before she comes off as desperate and ruins the entire thing.

When she finishes, Kara is quite disappointed, but it curbs slightly when Lena asks to help put her choker on as well.

Kara gladly obliges, brushing midnight locks out of the way, and when she secures it, she realizes Lena’s hair isn’t curled.

“Aren’t you supposed to curl your hair?” The vampire asks, slipping her hands in the onesie’s pockets to squeeze the ear-flapping things just to have something to do with her fingers. “Ruby mentioned it yesterday.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that now.”

“Um, can I help?”

The words are out before she knows it, and again, she’s surprised that Lena, her best friend, would agree to such a thing.

She takes her time, but tries to keep it in the time frame before they have to leave.

Just as they have to leave, Lena stops Kara. “Wait, you have a little something... “ She points to the same spot on her chin, and when Kara wipes away helplessly at it, Lena moves in close to do the job herself.

Kara should know there really isn’t anything on their face and instead, Lena’s making a big deal of it so she can be close to her, but she’s equally as affected as Lena is as her thumb smooths over the skin there. 

The movement slows as Lena looks up just slightly to meet Kara’s blue gaze, and then it stops altogether.

Lena’s heart is pounding just as quick as hers, and their faces are so close, breaths mingling. Lena, her hands still cupping Kara’s cheeks, catch Kara’s eyes as they flicker down quickly and back up, so fast that Lena almost doesn’t catch it, but she does.

_She wants to kiss me._ _Or, more of, she wants me to kiss her._

So she does. She closes the gap between them and presses her lips firmly to Kara’s in what she expects to be a simple, chaste kiss.

Instead, the world erupts with emotion and feeling, and it shoots a zap of electricity to the tips of her toes, and soon enough, she pushes her way closer, moving her arms from Kara’s cheek to around her neck to minimize the space in between themes.

They become open-mouthed and sloppy, hours of pent-up feeling and desire all poured into a single kiss, and Lena pulls away because she has to, or she’s going to pass out.

“Okay, now you got a little something there,” Lena grins, chest still heaving, gesturing to the entire lower half of her face, where the deep bloody crimson of Lena’s lipstick is smeared all over her lips and the surrounding area.

Kara blues a deep cherry red, matching the lipstick stains, and she has to use makeup remover wipes to get the expensive and persistent makeup off. 

When they show up at Sam’s house, the three of them— Sam, Alex, and Ruby are impatient waiting outside already, empty plastic buckets waiting to be filled with candy.

“Y'know,” Sam grumbles. “These buckets don’t fill themselves.”

Lena and Kara don’t move, and that’s when they realize their hands are still joined from the car ride.

Alex’s eyes drop to their hands, and a knowing expression flickers across her face. “Did you two-”

They both grin widely, sharing a quick glance before bursting into fits of giggles like teenagers.

“You did.”

Kara beams and takes a bucket, dragging Lena along with her.

“Not gonna lie, I think I like Halloween now,” she tells Kara breathlessly as she’s dragged along to the first house.

“See? I told you!” Kara shouts in triumph, and a few neighbors look their way, but they don’t notice. She barrels into Lena, wrapping her in a tight squeeze. “I told you Halloween was fun.”

Kara’s still clinging to her like a koala on a branch.

“Still making excuses to be close to me?” Lena winks, and Kara flushes, burying her face into Lena’s neck.

“Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Compared to everything else I've written on here... this was interesting.
> 
> "Please refrain from using provocative combinations of the English lexicons." ~ I'm not sure who said this-


	13. day thirteen: lucky (i'm in love with my best friend)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is from "Lucky" by Jason Mraz :)

“Wait, _what?”_ She narrows her eyes at the thing.

“Yeah! You kinda just carry the rabbit's foot around and it’s good luck!”

“Oh, wow, that’s pretty cool!”

//

“That was disgusting,” she winces. “Who would keep a rabbit’s foot in their pocket? That’s so gross? And the poor rabbit,” Her words are animated, and she paces around the cabin, trying to wrap her head around this strange Earth custom. 

“What other things do you have for luck?”

“Four-leaf clovers?” Alex supplies helpfully.

Kara blinks. “Don’t they all have four leaves?”

“Um, no?”

“Oh. Well, on Krypton, they did.”

Alex’s brows scrunch over her nose. “So were three-leaf clovers lucky?”

“Nope. Didn’t even have them. We got to the point where there were no genetic disorders in living things were extremely rare, and so if someone found them, it was actually quite unlucky.”

“Oh, wow.” Alex cocks a brow. “That's… different.”

“Yep! On Krypton, we don’t believe in luck. Soulmates are chosen beforehand based on a complicated algorithm based on genetics with millions of variables, and none if it is based on luck. It’s honestly kind of cool that we can choose whoever we want here. Like, it’s so much harder because you have to find them.” she rambles. “Like, on Krypton, it was so easy.”

“Yeah,” Alex speaks quietly, turning her head to glance at Sam, muttering on her phone. “But it makes it a whole lot more worth it.”

//

Kara still doesn’t understand luck. It’s stupid, because every time she plays Exploding Kittens, luck messes with her and gives her the kitten right after she uses her Defuse card. It’s her lucky Defuse card too (aka the cat therapy one), and it never works, so giving up on luck seems like the right thing to do.

The next round, she manages to keep her one and only Defuse card until she and Lena are the last players, but Lena pulls out an attack card, and Kara’s grin turns into a sulk as she draws an exploding kitten from the top of the pile. She stares longingly at the light green card, before placing it not-so-gently onto the pile. An attack means two turns, and the two cards in the pile are both Exploding Kittens, so she doesn’t even bother to flip the card before dumping all her useless Potato and Beard-o-Cats face-up onto the table. Lena grins happily.

‘Poor kittens,” she sighs, taking a sip of the scotch that does absolutely nothing just for the taste. “They must hate me.”

//

The point is, Kara’s never had good luck. Just when that seed of hope starts to grow in her chest, something always drowns it, stomps on it, pulls it out, roots and all, so she’s learned to not plant the seed in the first place.

(She starts looking for four-leaf clovers, though, just in case.}

She doesn’t want to believe she’s lucky when she becomes best friends with Lena. It just seems like the right setup for a plot twist. 

But she ends up falling into the hole with her kind words and her beautiful smile, and Kara wants to believe in luck, because she could’ve found a best friend in _anyone_ in National City, but Lena chose her.

She couldn’t ask for a better friend

//

Everything goes downhill at once. The seed has grown a little more, the plant sturdier and taller, but that just makes it more painful to rip out of its anchor, doesn’t it?

(Kara stops looking for four-leaf clovers.)

Luck doesn’t exist. It doesn’t. Life is simply a non-linear graph, laid out before the eyes of a person. There are an infinite number of known and unknown variables, but we do not have the power to control the unknown variables.

It also happens that luck cannot control these unknown variables.

Every downfall, every highlight of one’s life is mapped out before the, Kara thinks. Luck cannot make someone endlessly happy only to make the conditions impossible to survive and suck all the joy from the situation and replace it with something heavy and dark.

Luck cannot take itself back because the person deserved it.

Luck simply does not exist. She’s made this clear to everyone she’s close to. Kara Danvers believes in a lot of things, but luck is not one of them.

//

It turns out she was right when she said that luck cannot provide just to take away, because when she becomes friends with Lena again, and then more, the happiness returns fourfold, and in a completely different way.

Kara’s had a particularly bad day at work and so she returns home, eyes stinging, feeling empty inside and oh so worthless. She’s on the razor's edge of getting fired, her co-workers aren’t exactly fond of her save Nia, and her articles are declining in quality and quantity.

She comes home to Lena, a cup of warm hot chocolate and a pile of potstickers.

“Why did you do this?” She questions curiously. “You’ve never done this before.”

“I noticed something was up recently. You’ve been more tired and cranky lately, and I just wanted you to relax.”

Kara gives a warm smile— the first one all day— and wraps Lena in the warmest embrace yet.

“I don’t know what’s up and I don’t want to intrude, but I want you to know that you are enough. You’re trying your hardest and doing so, so good, and as long as you’re giving your best effort, nothing else matters. If people are upset with you, that’s their fault, okay? _You_ come first. _Your_ thoughts and feelings go before others. And if you’re punishing and straining yourself to make others happy, it won’t work.” she murmurs, fingers working at the knots in Kara’s back. 

“Take the time to evaluate your feelings first, then others, and find a way to satisfy them without going against your values or hurting yourself. You’re such an important person in their lives and they don’t even know,” Lena giggles. “Imagine them realizing you saved hundreds of lives in National City every day.”

The Irish woman turns Kara around to give her a comforting peck on the cheek, but Kara chases her lips after they part, and finds safety, warmth, and love there.

“I love you so much,” she mumbles against Lena’s lips. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to have someone as amazing as you to spend my life with forever.”

Lena smiles. “I thought you didn’t believe in luck.” 

Kara harumphs adorably, burying her face into Lena’s skin. “It brought me to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say that I am very lucky for this fandom? Though it's not the kindest, or most welcoming, it's given me a chance to learn about myself and write my heart out.
> 
> I'm also lucky that I'm living at this time precisely because humans have been alive for thousands of years yet we happen to exist at the same time as freakin' Katie McGrath. Wild.


	14. day fourteen: midvale (is the place i found my family)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapter title- i would like you to know i blindly typed it without registering what it was, and then i realized it wasn't that bad and got excited.
> 
> (don't mind me, I somehow still get excited over the tiniest things)

“Come to Midvale with me!” Kara offers brightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Lena sighs. “No, I really shouldn’t. This is your fifteenth anniversary of getting adopted and I don’t wanna get in the way of family time.”  _ As if I know what family time even is. _

“No! You wouldn’t be getting in the way at all! It’s just me, Eliza, and Alex, and we can definitely feed one more person. You’re coming, and you need a break from work anyway.” She pouts and folds her arms adorably across her chest— so unlike Supergirl— and Lena has to look away.

The puppy eyes still hit her because she can  _ feel _ the power of them, practically glistening with tears, and she slumps forward. “Fine.”

“Yay! This is such a great idea!”

//

“This was a horrible idea,” Lena whisper-shouts, dragging their respective luggage to the door. “She won’t like me. I’m not very well-liked by the mothers of my partners. Especially the mother of a Super.” she points out.

“My mom loves almost everyone, so I’m sure you’re fine,” she reassures kindly, pulling her in for a comforting kiss on the top of her head, before ringing the doorbell.

“Just watch.”

“Okay.”

The door swings open, and Lena has to bite the inside of her cheek and hope that Eliza doesn’t hate her for what she’s done. Hell, Kara has probably cried to her about Lena, and she probably hates her.

“Kara!” Her face lights up immediately, and Kara leaves her luggage on the porch steps to wrap her mother in a hug.

“Hi, Eliza!” she responds, and grabs her luggage. “Come on, Lena! I’ll show us our room.”

“Oh! You brought Lena with you! I haven’t made dinner yet, but we have enough food for one more person. Welcome to Midvale, Lena,” Eliza smiles warmly, holding her arms out for a hug.

Lena moves in uncertainty, but when Eliza’s arms wrap around her, instead of the warmth she should feel, she feels a deep sense of longing and nostalgia for someone like this in her life.

“Lena,” Eliza pulls away, her face taking on a concerned expression. “Honey, you okay?”

“What?”

“You’re crying.”

“Oh,” she says stupidly, bringing a free hand to wipe away the tears that suddenly appeared. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” she dismisses and takes Lena’s luggage. “I’ll put this in Kara’s room, you make yourself feel at home, alright?”

Lena answers with a tiny nod.

//

It’s almost surreal, to be in the home Kara grew up in. She’s heard Kara talk about it all the time, her shared bedroom with Alex, using her super-speed to claim the bathroom in the morning before Alex did. 

But it’s completely and utterly overwhelming too. To the Luthors, “home” is a word with a negative connotation. Home reminds her of the ways Lex would taunt her about every mistake she made, the obvious favoritism between children, Lillian’s way of raising a child by controlling it by fear. To walk into Kara’s home and immediately see such a caring and kind mother is alien to her; she’s always assumed all mothers were like Lillian.

She doesn’t realize she’s crying in Eliza’s arms until Eliza tells her, and she heads to the bathroom immediately for some deep breaths.  _ In for six, out for six, hold for six. _

When she exits, Alex enters the front door, dragging along a bag, and Eliza greets her with an identical hug and smile, and Kara practically throws herself into her sister’s arms, even though they probably see each other every day.

Lena has to turn around.

//

They’re at the dinner table, making easy and polite conversation, but Lena can’t bring herself to join in. As a child, she’s always eaten in silence, always as quick as possible, refusing any seconds, and then cleaning her area and going to her room to stay away from the prying eyes of Lillian.

So, naturally, when Eliza asks Lena about L-corp, she freezes.

“Um, it’s doing nice. I’m always busy but we’re heading in a good direction,” she answers stiffly, but when Kara leans over to place a calming hand on her thigh, she relaxes, her forced smile melting into a genuine one.

//

Kara wants to watch Singing in the Rain. Alex almost throws her finger of scotch and groans loudly before shouting, “Again?” and Lena stifles laughter that bubbles up.

They watch it anyway.

Halfway through the movie, Lena takes note of her surroundings. She and Kara, cuddled up on the couch, a shared blanket laying across their laps. Alex slouches on the other end, and Eliza sits lazily on a rocking chair adjacent to the couch. The lights are off, the only source of light in the room, the fireplace, crackling and filling the room with warm shadows that dance beautifully.

(Lena doesn’t remember the last time she’s seen a fireplace on in a home. In the Luthor mansion, though almost every room had one, they were to be left off at all times, and the lack of fires in the abundance of fireplaces was cold and ironic, but Lena had brushed it off.

“Kara,” she murmurs quietly, once the ending credits roll, and the family sits through them, feet tapping, heads nodding to the jazzy song that plays at the end. 

“Hm?” she twirls a golden lock around her finger mindlessly.

“Thank you for bringing me here.” She has to swallow the wave of emotion that washes over her.

“Of course! And may I ask, why are you thanking me? You don’t have to tell me,” she adds on quickly, noticing the bob of Lena’s throat as she swallows and the slight clenching of her jaw.

“No, it’s okay,” she says quietly. “In the Luthor household, we never did any of this. We ate dinner together, but I always would take mine up to my room or leave the able as soon as possible, and I certainly never had a mother that was so… welcoming. I guess I just assumed all parents were like that. Cold and judgy.”

She continues on, melting into Kara’s embrace and soft gaze. “I didn’t know what to expect here, but I don’t know, I just feel like I’ve never had someone’s mother actually  _ like _ me. I’ve never been welcomed like this and I’ve never felt like  _ family _ with anyone.”

“Well,” Kara rubs her shoulder softly. “You have the Danvers. And we’re your family, no matter what.”

The words warm Lena from the inside, and she thinks she might actually cry.

_ We’re your family, no matter what. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have tumblr and twitter but you know that already~


	15. day fifteen: kale (so much of it but you can't even tell)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before y'all complain, the idea was from a Good Mythical Morning video they did about two years ago with YouTuber Colleen Ballinger where they tried to make her not hate bacon.
> 
> (It was pretty successful, just in case you're wondering)

She sits herself down on the stool, across the kitchen island from Kara, and folds her hands, very businesslike and professional, but the grin she’s wearing and the sparkle of mischief in her eyes say otherwise.

The next words that come out of her mouth are none that’s ever been said to Kara before, let alone even thought about, but she spits the words out, loud and firm and clear as if it’s nothing.

“I think I can make you like kale.”

Kara chokes on her donut.

Lena responds with a tight smile, waiting for her airways to clear to get a verbal reaction.

“Okay. No. First of all, no. Second of all, _no._ Third of all, that’s a stretch.”

“Fine,” Lena pulls back just slightly after a heartbeat of hesitation. “I think I can make you not hate kale.”

“What do I get if you don’t convince me?”

“Your choice,” Lena shrugs, and this time, Kara is the one with the glint of mischief as plans and wonderful ideas of torturing the wonderful Lena Luthor pop into her brain.

“And if I win,” she cocks a brow confidently, the trademark Lena Luthor brow™, and Kara gulps under the intensity of it (but also because it makes her girlfriend look really hot). “You won’t have to suffer from kale anymore, and I get bragging rights, so it’s a win-win situation. You better make yourself like kale,” she finishes, slipping off the stool to pick up her bag for work.

Just like that, her personality changes, and she presses a soft kiss to Kara’s lips. “See you later, darling.”

Kara harrumphs in response.

//

Lena takes the Saturday off for day number one of “kale therapy”, she likes to call it. Kara says it’s unprofessional and potentially dangerous, but her girlfriend insists it works. 

(Lena’s actually not sure).

Kara returns home from her first Supergirl mission of the day to an (evilly) smiling girlfriend and fresh, green leaves of kale lying on a chopping board.

With the suit the Irish woman is wearing, Kara wonders if she’ll really be going through kale therapy. Lena’s a genius; she’s gotta have some psychological knowledge on her side, Kara reasons. 

The thought scares her, only slightly, so she changes into her civilian clothes before sitting across from Lena.

“Alright. We’re going to start off rough,” she holds up the dullest, most shrivelled-up leaf and holds it out, the top of the leaf drooping under the weight.

Kara’s first instinct is to exaggerate her gag reflex that comes with being so close to kale, but instead, she lets out a long groan and pinches it between two fingers as if it were poop.

“Take a bite out of it,” Lena orders, her face dead serious.

“Really? Did you have to get me the most disgusting-looking one? I could be eating that one right now!” she points to one, still wrapped in plastic wrap. It’s an absolutely perfect piece, the leaves rich and a brilliant dark green. The folds of the leaf are almost perfect, droplets of moisture collecting on the bottom. 

It still makes Kara’s stomach roll.

“Part of the therapy, she insists, motioning towards the disgusting leaf. “You’re going to have to do it sooner or later. Just take a bite.”

Kara, unexpectedly calm and collected, holds up a finger. “Let me mentally prepare myself.”

She closes her eyes and Lena catches her lips moving and some Kryptonian phrases, and has to bite back a bubble of laughter that threatens to rise in her throat when she realizes she’s saying the exact Kryptonian mantra used to strengthen the mind.

Rao, if Alura saw she was using the prayer to prepare herself in preparation to eat a leaf.

Finally, she bites off a good three inches off the top and gags immediately, but with the weight of the stern look Lena gives her, she manages to get it down her esophagus.

“Water, please, _Rao,_ Lena I haven’t eaten kale in a-” she hacks loudly, “-long time.”

Lena gladly hands her a cup of water, which she downs in about three seconds.

“Please tell me I don’t have to eat any more plain kale.”

“...I can’t promise that.”

Kara lets her head drop onto the marble counter with a _smack_ (she makes sure that the momentum and weight of her head don’t end up cracking the counter).

“Okay,” Lena claps her hands, and moves the kale out of sight. Kara relaxes into her stool. “Now, we have some regression therapy, but my way. I did not get advice from Kelly, just so you know, and I did not do research, so this is all logic that spewed out of my brain at four in the morning.”

“Got it. So you’re saying this could be permanently damaging?” Kara sputters incredulously.

Lena brushes it off. “Can’t be that much.”

Another long groan escapes Kara’s lips and she props her head lazily on her arms. “Give me the kale therapy.”

“So, we’re first going to rewrite the memory.”

“You’re _what_?”

“Shhh, you’ll see.”

Kara gives her a disbelieving glare.

‘So, close your eyes and think back to the very first time you tried kale.” 

Kara reaches for the memory but comes back with only the vague details. “I don’t know, I must’ve blocked it out. I think I was in the kitchen and Eliza was making me try new vegetables that day.”

“Okay, so how did you feel about the kale?”

Kara grimaces and refills her glass of water to wash away the lingering taste. “It was disgusting.”

“Ah, ah, ah, keep your eyes closed.”

Kara shuts the peeking eye. “Fine.”

“Okay, so it was disgusting,” Lena echoes.

“Yes.”

“What did you say to Eliza?”

“I don’t like it,” the memory rushes back to her quickly, all of a sudden.

“Alright, more emotion. Did you hate the kale?” Lena ventures, bracing herself for the sudden spurt of emotion.

“Yes, I _hate_ the kale!” she says.

Lena laughs at the lack of passion. “Tell Eliza that.”

“Eliza, I hate the kale.”

“More emotion,” she pushes. “Get all those repressed feelings out.”

Kara seems hesitant at whatever Lena is poking at, but she does it anyway. “Eliza, I _hate_ the kale.”

“Hmm,” Lena drawls out, “I don’t think she knows that yet.”

Her voice raises marginally. “Eliza, I hate the kale!”

“Okay, we’re getting there. But that’s not all you got. What did it make you want to do to her? Get all those negative feelings about kale, bring it to the surface, and let it out in one go. Ready? One, two, three-”

“ELIZA, I HATE THE KALE!” Kara roars, all emotion and volume, and Lena winces at the volume.

“Yes!” Lena chants. “That was good! Now, we’re going to start big, with all the emotion, and slowly take it out. So start with a big, ‘Eliza, I hate the kale’.”

“ELIZA, I HATE THE KALE!” she practically snarls. 

“A little less emotion,” Lena orders, and Kara does just that. She pushes aside all doubts because as much as she would never admit it, Lena’s right. She’s in a win-win situation here.

Soon, Kara’s voice is calm and controlled, and she opens her eyes to Lena’s penthouse around her.

“Now that we’ve successfully removed all the emotion from the kale-”

“Successfully?” Kara scoffs, but Lena makes no move to reply.

“We can move on.”

Just then, the oven beeps, a long and high-pitched _beep_ to signal that the food is ready.

Kara perks up immediately. “You made food? Oh, wait-” she sinks just a bit. “Is it kale?”

“Well, partially,” Lena explains, taking out two trays of meatballs. Immediately, Kara’s mouth begins to water at the delicious smell, and she can’t keep her eyes off of them.

On each tray, there’s a sign. In large, capital letters, one says, _NO KALE_ while the other one tauntingly reads _KALE._

“We’re gonna start with the no kale meatballs, just to warm up your mouth for control purposes, and then we’re gonna bring out the kale and see if you can tell the difference.” 

All thoughts of kale immediately vanish as Lena pulls out marinara sauce, and using her bare hands (like the superhero she is), begins to devour the meatballs.

She finishes them quickly, very quickly, and she’s tempted to inhale all the kale-infused ones, but she knows for a fact the kale will affect it.

“Try it,” Lena motions, and watches as Kara takes the first bite slowly.

She winces right away. “Oh, yeah, I taste it. It’s not a strong flavor, _thank Rao_ , but it’s definitely more bitter.”

“Would you eat this?”

“If I had to, yeah,” she manages, and finishes the meatball before wiping her hands on a napkin nearby.

“Darling, what if I told you both of them had kale in it?”

“...what?”

Lena only nods slowly, teeth viciously attacking the inside of her lip to avoid bursting into an unstoppable fit of laughter. 

“Oh my _hecking_ Rao Lena I am going to _kill_ you with this meatball right now,” she threatens, picking up the meatball for good measure and tossing it up and down.

“Don’t blame me; it was all your mind,” Lena raises her arms her hands by her head in the universal sign for surrender, and Kara slumps in defeat.

“Fine.” 

“But-” Lena stops her. “We still have one last thing to do.”

“What?” Kara groans, head lolling on the marble.

“Here’s your perfect piece of kale,” Lena holds the leaf like it’s the most precious thing, and hands it to Kara, who pinches it with two fingers, just like before.

“What’s the difference? Is it magically supposed to taste better?” she asks, sarcasm dripping from her lips like sugar.

“Well, no, but this specific piece of kale was twenty times as expensive as the others, grown locally in a farm no farther than a mile from here, and raised with music and farmers tending it 24/7 and watered with a special formula that enriches its nutrients and brings out the good-tasting parts of it.”

Kara blinks and looks at Lena as if she has two heads.

“I’m serious Kara, I bought a leaf for twenty dollars and you better eat it.” Her face matches the words, and Kara reluctantly squeezes her eyes shut and holds her breath to take a bite.

“Relax your face, sweetheart,” Lena coaxes. “Breathe, in, and out, and just pretend like it’s good kale. You’re good at that.”

Kara does just that and manages to get it down without making a face.

“How was that?” Lena grins.

“I’d eat it if you forced me to, but only this twenty-dollar leaf every time,” she admits.

Then takes another bite from it.

Lena throws her arms into the air. “You like it!”

“No,” she grumbles. “I hate it, but a little less than before.”

That doesn’t stop Lena from rejoicing. “It’s progress.”

“You think you can make me like kale beyond this sixty-percent hatred level?” Kara scoffs, placing the leftover kale onto the counter and cracks her knuckles menacingly.

Lena walks around the kitchen island and holds a hand out. “Oh, It’s on.”

Kara meets her hand with a firm shake, pumping twice.

“It’s on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eheheheheheheheheehehehe


	16. day sixteen: water (it feels like it only counts in her arms)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a buttload of angst!

Kara likes rain. She likes everything about it, the way the droplets splatter satisfyingly onto cement, the constant thrum of water calming her. She loves the way it smells before and after rainstorms, and the sea of umbrellas that appear when the rain begins to fall.

She also likes the way the white noise can sometimes be loud enough to drown out all her painful thoughts. She likes that when she stands under the water and lets it soak her to the bone, she can’t distinguish her tears from the rain. She likes how it feels like Rao is crying, mourning with her. She likes that the sun is nowhere to be seen, a thick, gray layer of condensed water covering the sky in an endless blanket, suffocating those who need the sun most.

It’s been raining a lot more recently.

Kara climbs onto the roof of her apartment and lays there almost every rainy night, letting the droplets hit her face. It’s best when the rain is cold, long, and hard, and each droplet feels like an icy needle to her skin. Those are the nights when even the moon cannot be seen through the clouds, where her powers fade because there’s no reflection of the sun to charge her cells. She feels helpless and useless and worthless, but she supposes that’s who she just is.

But on those nights when a hint of moonlight peeks through the blanket of gray clouds as it rains, she hears Lena’s voice.

She doesn’t mean to. She doesn’t mean to catch the tenor of her voice or the way she giggles, high in her throat. She doesn’t mean to see the distinct green of her eyes. She doesn’t mean to do it, but she does it because she can’t control it.

Every night, if there’s no rain to drown out the noise of Lena’s soft giggles as she spends her time with someone else. A new best friend.

When it’s not raining, she doesn’t let herself cry whenever she picks up the sound that once was music to her ears, now just a dissonant chord she wishes would fade away.

Instead, she flies back to her apartment, strips herself of her suit and turns on the shower, and lets it all out.

Even as her chest heaves and she chokes on the water as she hiccups, it doesn’t count as crying this way. Not when there’s already water streaming down her face.

//

She doesn’t let anyone see her cry. She’s strong, right? She can hold in the waterworks until she’s alone or in the rain, so she can cry and ignore the fact that she’s crying because she’s weak and she’s hiding her tears in the rain because she isn’t strong.

When Lena shows up at her door months later with red-rimmed eyes and a genuine apology, Kara lets herself cry that night.

After the victory and Lena’s promise to work with her again, she sits in Lena’s arms and for the first time in months, she lets herself cry without hiding it.

She lets Lena in and allows her,  _ invites _ her to catch a glimpse of all of it, the pretty and the ugly.

It’s never felt this good to cry in someone’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also, there was a line in @LavendarMandarin's fic that talks about how it doesn't count as crying when there's water already streaming down your face and i couldn't not use it :)


	17. day seventeen: beautiful (so beautiful it hurts sometimes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on this quote by Richelle Mead:
> 
> _“Do you think I’m pretty? I think you’re beautiful. Beautiful? You are so beautiful, it hurts sometimes.”_

_“Do you think I’m pretty? I think you’re beautiful. Beautiful? You are so beautiful, it hurts sometimes."_

* * *

Lena likes to think there’s meaning behind them. That the phrases she sees under her posts are genuine.

She likes to think that the momentary joy she feels from the comments last, even though they fade as soon as the notification disappears. 

But it doesn’t. It’s simply a way of saying a quick _you’re pretty_ without truly meaning it. It doesn’t mean anything, when the same phrases, just slightly altered, are spammed under everyone’s post. 

She never gets the comments in real life anyway. Instead, she blends into the rest of the student body, dipping her head to stare at her feet as she walks the hallways to her next class.

It’s only when behind the screen, people she never talks to are willing to call her pretty.

She deletes her Instagram.

//

Tonight, she takes Kara out to the hills bordering National City. There’s a slight breeze, a slight relief from the raging temperatures that afternoon. 

The car climbs slowly up the winding roads until they reach a spot on the side of the road that overlooks the city, and without a word, Lena pops the trunk and the two girls sit at the back of the car to gaze at the city below them.

“It’s beautiful,” Kara breathes, breaking the silence, and Lena hums in agreement, resting her head against Kara’s shoulder.

It’s a slow and careful movement, leaving room for rejection, but the blonde girl doesn’t brush her off, so she leans a little harder.

From a compartment in the back seat, she pulls out her phone and presses on a random playlist. A slow, compound duple-meter song comes on from the car’s speakers as the quiet strumming of a guitar, and Lena stands up, a grin plastered to her face. 

Lena Luthor hardly grins, and she hardly talks to any of the students. But today, she had mustered the courage to ask Kara out. They were in three of the same classes and had talked before, however, no more than the quiet exchange of short sentences about classwork or comments.

“Dance with me?”

Her voice is barely audible, softer than the music spilling out of the car, and Kara gladly takes the outstretched hand.

The music flowing from the car is interspersed with the distant sounds of nature, the hum of the wind as it blows across the valley, the rustle of grass as it brushes shyly against another blade, the distant _swoosh_ of cars down below that pass as peaceful at this distance.

Kara can only hear her breathing, much too loud for her liking, and the pound of her heart against her ribcage as Lena pulls her close to sway gently to the music. She swallows subtly and only hopes that Lena doesn’t hear the constant thrumming of her heart that ruins the music.

Luckily, the Irish girl doesn’t seem to notice, and Kara lifts Lena’s arm above her head and spins her slowly and unfamiliarly, and the giggle that spills from her lips like sugar is enough to melt Lena’s heart.

“You’re so pretty, you know that?”

Kara freezes for less than a heartbeat at the familiar comment. She’s seen it all over her feed, but right now, on a hill bordering National City, with Lena, she knows for a fact that Lena means it.

The awed expression on her face paired with the words proves that, and Kara flushes under Lena’s gaze.

“You think I’m pretty?” Kara breathes in question, a quiet whisper that disappears with the wind, and Lena responds with a confirming nod.

Kara leans forward, just slightly, to press her lips softly to Lena’s cheek. “I think you’re beautiful.”

Lena’s lips crack into the beginnings of a smile, and Kara’s heart leaps into her chest. “Beautiful?” she lets out, an awed whisper. 

Kara responds with what she’s been feeling the day she met Lena. “You’re so beautiful, it hurts sometimes.”

The raven-haired girl feels a tear slip from her eyes against her will, and she brushes it away quickly, embarrassed. It all only makes her seem more beautiful under the moonlight, and Kara kisses the next tear away.

“You’re so beautiful, Lena,” she murmurs, and Lena kisses her for the first time, long and soft.

When Kara holds her in her ocean blue gaze, skimming over her face slowly, Lena lets out a breath that trembles on Kara’s neck, because for the first time, she feels beautiful.

While overused words on a screen give her momentary happiness that disappears like the dust in the wind, Kara makes her feel beautiful.

Kara makes her feel beautiful like no one else does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I could've done much more with this prompt, but this was all I could do in the time I had.


	18. day eighteen: garden (it'll be our place from now on)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am burning out and I'm sure you can tell :)

“Tofu! Bad dog! _Bad_ dog!” she shoos the creature away with her hands, attempting to scare him off, but the creature continues to nip at the hem of her skirt.

She takes off running, trying desperately to be as discreet as possible before a palace guard finds her not doing her job, but it turns out to be a horrible idea, as the golden retriever continues to chase her, yipping happily, tail wagging furiously.

“This is not a game!” she hisses between clenched teeth, but she doesn’t stop running until she realizes the dog isn’t behind her anymore.

“Stupid dog,” she grumbles, wiping the dust from her clothes. As she turns to head back to her quarters, she freezes, finally noticing her surroundings. 

She’s in a garden. Life sprouts in all directions, ivy snaking up the side of the palace that borders the garden, beautiful flowers of many colors blooming. In fact, she smells the distinct sharpness of mint, her favorite leaf to put in her tea, and when she moves her legs, she realizes she’s directly in the middle of a patch of mint.

_Great. Now I’m gonna smell of mint when I get back- wait. Where am I?_

It hits her suddenly that she’s lost, and she’s in a garden she’s clearly never been in before. _Am I even on castle grounds_?

Green seems to stretch out in all directions, welcoming trees providing shade to the paths as delicious fruits hang by the stem. Her surroundings look as if they're straight out of a tale, and so she bursts into song instinctively, a soft and sweet tune coming from her lips. She’s always liked to sing, and sometimes, she’s not always aware she is until someone shushes her.

There seems to be everything here, from vegetables to walnut trees, and Kara glances around to make sure no one is watching her, then plucks a fresh apple from a tree.

As she tucks the fruit into her bag, a familiar voice, taking on an unfamiliar tone, startles her.

“I’ve always wondered who was taking the apples.”

“Aah! I’m sorry- Princess Lena- Your Highness,” she finally curtsies after finding her words, dropping the apple.

Her voice is different, Kara muses. She’s only heard the princess take on a demanding tone when ordering servants around, or a quiet and well-composed, but when Kara stands up again awkwardly and fidgets with her hands behind her back, she realizes from the tone of the princess’s voice and her strange expression that she’s _amused._ The princess finds this funny.

“I’m sorry,” she panics, horrified. “Tofu was chasing me and I ran here and got lost and I was hungry, so I didn’t think before I picked the apple, I’m truly sorry, your Highness. This is my first time here so I haven’t been stealing the apples before, if that’s what you think.”

Lena grimaces. “I’ve never understood the Your Highness stuff,” she dismisses, chuckling low in her chest. “She seems to really like you,” Her voice takes on a teasing tone. Kara blinks, stunned, her throat dry.

Lena is nothing like she’s heard. She’s not cold, nor aloof, but rather, seems to be the exact opposite. Her faint smile is contagious, so contagious, and Kara finds her lips tugging without her consent in the beginnings of a smile as well. Whispered comments from servants during their breaks about Lena being a robot due to her strained posture aren’t true at all, Kara realizes, her eyes skimming her posture quickly.

Lena doesn’t take on the posture she wears in the palace, but instead, her features are relaxed, back straightened but not ramrod straight, and a hand is hovering near her mouth, so different from the usual clasped position they take on behind her back.

She’s never taken the time to look at the princess; she’s always busy, and if anyone sees her diverting from her duties to gaze at the princess, she’d probably get called out.

So now, in the early-afternoon sunlight, her midnight hair that seems so dark and gloomy in the palace reflects the light, giving it a soft brunette glow that is lighter than it is at first glance.

Her porcelain skin is illuminated as well, her face lacking the usual makeup, piercing green eyes looking at her with an expression Kara can’t quite read, and the servant swallows because she’s _beautiful._

She’s just as pretty as everyone claims she is, and if possible, even more.

“Princess Lena-”

“Darling, Just call me Lena,” she interrupts, shrugging. “Never really understood all that Your Highness stuff.”

“L-Lena, I am lost, and perhaps you could help me find my way back? I’ve got to empty the trash cans before noon, and-”

Lena cuts her off again. “Oh, please. Why don’t they give those jobs to the guards?” she sniffs, holding an arm out. “I’m sure you could spare some time. After all, you’re stealing food from the gardens. I’ll ask the chefs to serve you more food.”

Kara swallows at the unexpected kindness, taking the girl’s arm, and they begin to stroll slowly along the garden path. “Thank you, Lena.”

She narrows her eyes. “And you are?”

“Kara. Kara Danvers.”

She gulps under Lena’s gaze, her pulse fluttering under her temple, and Kara’s long-time crush on the princess resurfaces, with more strength than she can imagine.

She hears Nia in her head, teasing that she’ll tell the princess about her crush the next time she sees her, and brushes it off because it was clearly a threat… right? Kara chuckles quietly at the thought of Nia’s expression when she finds out she went on a walk with the princess in her garden.

Lena only hums quietly. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing here?”

Kara flushes. Hard. All words forming immediately evaporate, and she lifts a hand awkwardly to adjust her glasses.

“I-I said earlier, Tofu chased me and I ran here. I’m not sure how to get out though.” She manages to hide the tremble in her voice, but she knows that Lena sees the cherry-red blush that blooms across her cheeks and neck. Luckily, she makes no move to point it out.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I came out here because I heard someone singing, and I recognized the song. Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral. It’s an Irish lullaby, and my biological mother always sang it to me as a child.” she sighs, eyes clouding with nostalgia.

“You weren’t born here?”

The princess’s eyes grow wistful, and she shakes her head, gnawing on her bottom lip softly. “My mother died when I was four. The queen adopted me because it turns out the king is my father. Whatever,” she dismisses. “It’s not important.”

Kara finally pinpoints the slight accent as a light Southern Irish accent.

“Anyway, my point is, what’s a girl like you wasting her talents when you have such a voice?” Lena wonders aloud, and Kara can feel her face flushing again.

“Darling,” Lena notices, chuckling softly. “Flustered is not a very good look on you.”

Kara exhales deeply, willing for the blood to leave her cheeks. “T-Thank you. That’s a high compliment, especially from the princess. But,” she sighs. “I don’t know. My mother was a servant before me, as was her mother before her, and I like singing as a hobby. I do it for fun.”

Lena gives her a disbelieving look. “Look, I know you probably don’t like all this, with Lillian as queen.”

“You don’t like her either?” Kara snorts.

Lena rolls her eyes. “I know, what a surprise. But she treats everyone lower than her as if they’re nothing. You don’t deserve this life. You deserve better, and I feel that you can live up to your full potential confined within these walls. I know you rather be free than be treated like this.”

Kara chooses her words carefully, letting out a sigh that deflates her like a balloon. “I guess you’re right, well, mostly right. But I have friends here. We cry together, and we help each other get through things, and well, I don’t think I can leave you now,” she admits, the last few words tapering off into a strained whisper.

Lena smiles genuinely, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “Darling, I don’t think I’d let you go back to your servant life after this. How about we make a deal?”

Blue eyes immediately brighten, flickering to meet green curiously. “A deal?”

“Yes. You stay in the palace and work, but not as a servant. You can be an entertainer. Sing during meals, during events, that sort of stuff.” she offers gladly.

Kara nods slowly. “And what about me? You’re giving me a life I’ve only dreamed of having, so what do I repay you with?”

Lena tilts her head elegantly, midnight curls cascading down a shoulder, a stark contrast to the exposed pale skin on her neck. “Your friendship.”

“My friendship?” Kara echoes.

The princess nods confirmingly. “Lillian would never let this happen, so listen. I come here every day just before sunset to find time alone. Meet me here every day?” Her head tilts to the side, green eyes widening in question.

“Yeah,” Kara smiles. “I’d like that.”

“I know I’d like that too,” the other girl responds warmly.

For once, the silence feels comfortable as they turn around to walk back to the entrance.

“So, how’d you get in?” Lena returns to the topic, eyes curious.

“Weird. It’s fenced off on three sides, and the castle wall borders the other side. Did you fly?” she jokes.

“Yeah, totally. I flew here. Aw, you figured me out!” Kara pouts, and the resulting giggle that escapes Lena’s lips is music to Kara’s ears.

“But seriously, how did you get in?” Her gaze darts to the surrounding gates and hedges, and Kara’s eyes land on a low bush. 

“Must’ve hopped over that,” she nods in the direction of the bush.

“Impressive.”

Kara scoffs. “Not so impressive when you’re being chased by the palace dog.”

When Lena giggles again, Kara feels her heart flutter and pound against her ribcage. Hard and fast, like the percussion she hears during certain events. She finds herself straining her ears to hear the music in between comments, and years for it during moments of silence.

“I’ve noticed she really likes you.”

“Noticed?” Kara sputters. “As in you’ve seen Tofu with me before?”

Lena rolls her eyes. “I see things, Kara.”

(Kara can’t get over how the name rolls off of Lena’s tongue quickly and easily, with a slight accent. Oh, what she would give to hear it again.)

(Kara hates herself for thinking that.)

“I see that she comes to you every time you walk near my room. She doesn’t really interact with any other people, even Nia, who’s absolutely lovely around animals. Strange,” Lena wonders aloud. “What kind of sorcery are you using?”

Kara feigns offense. “So first, you’re going to accuse me of flying into royal grounds, and then now you think I use some sort of dark magic? How dare you!” she gasps, before collapsing into a fit of laughter, which Lena joins in as well.

“Charming,” she states, wiping at a stray tear that escaped from the corner of her eye before straightening up, as if she remembered she was a princess. However, she takes on a more comfortable posture when she remembers she’s with Kara.

“Also, side question, you know Nia? Do you talk to her a lot?” Kara asks, intrigued. “She’s my best friend.”

“Yeah, of course!” The princess looks surprised. “She’s my servant, we talk every day. And she tells me sometimes about the gossip between all of you servants and guards.”

Lena winks, and Kara dies a little inside.

“S-She told you?”

Kara feels like crying.

“Darling, almost every boy in the kingdom likes me at some point. It’s no different, that you’re of the opposite gender.”

Oh. So Lena sees her merely as another name to the list of people that crush on the princess.

Lena kicks herself inwardly as Kara’s face falls.

‘But, I haven’t told anyone yet. I guess I should tell someone. I’m a lesbian,” she states quietly.

Kara’s brows lift in surprise, blonde hair swinging as she swivels to look at Lena.

“Do you… accept me?”

“Yes. God, yes, Lena. Of course, I would! People are idiots if they don’t,” she reassures the princess.

“Thank you,” Lena smiles, just slightly. "Told you my mom was an idiot."

Kara's free hand darts to her mouth. "She doesn't... ?"

The princess sighs, shaking her head slowly. "I haven't told her, but she clearly wants me to be with a prince. What's his name?" she snorts. "James, I believe. Jimmy? I'm not even sure, I don't pay enough attention to care. My mother wants me to marry him."

"Well, I think that's very rude, to force you with someone you don't care enough to know his name," she giggles. 

Y’know, I’ve thought about you a bit too.”

Kara almost chokes. “What?”

“You heard me. I’ve seen the way several guards look at you briefly and then look away, very well knowing they can’t marry a servant. I’m no different either.”

“Oh,” the servant breathes. “Wow, I didn’t think that would be possible.”

Lena presses a soft kiss to her cheek, and she feels it linger, even tens of seconds after her lips leave her skin. “Well, it is.”

“Honestly, if you were anyone else, I probably would’ve kicked you out of here the second I saw you,” she admits quietly, the sentence punctured by giggles.

“Wow, Lena. Nice to know I’m special,” she teases, earning another genuine laugh from the princess.

Lena’s expression grows slightly more serious. “But you are!”

Kara can’t stop blushing. “God, I’m gonna have to gush to someone about this. I’m assuming I can’t tell anyone about this? Not even Nia?”

“Well, I suppose you can tell Nia. She’ll probably question my whereabouts anyway. That girl, she’s always worried about me,” she laughs.

“Yep,” the servant confirms, popping the p’, “Sounds like her.”

Lena's cheeks _hurt_ from all the smiling and laughing, something she didn't think was possible after her mother took over the kingdom. As she glances at the sun, it's nearly overhead, signaling her lunchtime.

“So,’ Lena's face is sad, an apology ready on the tip of her tongue, and Kara’s face falls.

“You have to go?”

Lena nods, leaning in for a last peck on the cheek before dropping her arm, still linked with Kara's. Kara makes sure to turn her head just slightly so her lips brush the corner of her mouth, and Lena blushes at the contact.

“I’ll see you,” she whispers. “Go jump the bush again.”

And then she’s gone.

And Kara’s never been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betty by taylor swift has been stuck in my head the entire time as i wrote this and it's still stuck in my head


	19. day nineteen: pumpkin (there's a thin line between a pumpkin and a bowl of ramen)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is based off of a pumpkin carving contest I participated in in elementary school. No, I wasn't the one making the ramen bowl (sadly).

Needless to say, it’s Kara’s favorite day of the year.

She gets to school twenty minutes early to drop off her pumpkin, a large, fairly spherical, white pumpkin. She drags along a bag full of supplies, including various carving tools, paints, and toothpicks. She has an idea at the front of her mind; she’s been planning it for months, and this is her last year of high school. 

She hasn’t won yet, but she’s determined to, which is why she has backup pumpkins and backup plans, and they’re all equally as amazing.

She’s aiming for the “Most Beautiful” category, especially with her design, but her backup plans fall into various categories, including “Best Carving”.

The point is, she’s excited and _ready._

The entire cafeteria smells of pumpkin, and she wrinkles her nose before getting out of the space, full of excitement and anticipation for the event to come.

It’s the school’s biggest event, with the most participation, and the biggest deal if she wins.

She can barely sit through first and second period, planning each step in her head to maximize the time used to perfect her design.

When the bell rings, signaling the end of second period, it’s an understatement to say she bolted to the cafeteria. She’s the first one in there, grabbing her bags, and she’s easily secured a good spot to carve; in the shade, with as little people surrounding her as possible, and close to the carnival and candy apples (which she has her eyes set on).

She waits for the go from the event supervisor, but it doesn’t come.

Kara’s eyes dart to the clock on her wrist, and her hands subconsciously play with the tools, running her fingers along the edges impatiently.

Her face falls as the event supervisor nears her, a pale girl following closely behind.

“Hey, Kara,” he plays with the pen between his fingers, his voice apologetic. “Apparently, one person here didn’t sign up for this event and there are too many people to go over the sign-up list, so we have an extra person. Do you mind her joining you? She has her own tools and pumpkin, but you’ll work together for this contest.”

See, here’s the problem.

Kara can’t say no. Her eyes may be set on the prize, but she’s too compassionate, too worried about how others feel and how her consequences affect them that it overpowers her desire for that first place trophy.

It also doesn’t help that the girl is breathtakingly beautiful.

She’s quiet and Kara’s never seen her before. She wears jeans and a dark button-up, raven hair half tied-up, flowing over her shoulders in large black waves. Her skin is pale, such a stark contrast to her hair, but the way the morning sun makes her porcelain skin glow makes a subtle blush rise to Kara’s cheeks.

She looks shy, introverted, but one glance at her sharp jawline (that Kara can’t get over) and the piercing blue-green in the depths of her eyes, and Kara knows she shouldn’t be messed with.

“S-Sure,” she stammers, inwardly slapping herself for the stumble in her words.

_Rao, I’m so gay._

“Thank you, Kara, that’s perfect! The event should start soon,” he nods approvingly before walking away, the pen still dancing between his fingers.

“Hi!” she greets with a tiny wave. “I’m Kara Danvers.”

“Lena Luthor.”

Her voice is low and well-composed, and it holds a strange mysterious aura that pushes Kara to get to know this girl.

“So, I’m planning on carving a constellation. I love space and everything that has to do with astrology and astronomy, so I’ll use this tool,” she takes out a small circle cutter, “To cut holes for the stars, and we can just fill in the lines in between. Are you good at carving? I was thinking of painting the pumpkin black and adding more stars and galaxies and nebulas and whatnot, are you okay with that? I have backup plans if you’re not comfortable with this.” Her words are extremely fast, and Lena nods wordlessly, eyeing the tools as Kara takes them out to explain how they work, and humming quick responses to her questions.

Kara’s eyes don’t miss her hands. They’re pale and pretty, her fingers long, and as they bend around the handle of the carving tool used to cut the lid of the pumpkin, Kara knows she’s experienced and for a fact that Lena wouldn’t let her down.

As soon as the timer starts, Kara carves a quick circle to empty the pumpkin and gets the lid off without a problem. The pumpkin is unexpectedly dry, meaning it’s easy to cut but extremely easy to break, but on the bright side, at least she can take out the contents without struggling.

She glances around at the surrounding teams, their hands slick with the insides of the pumpkin, and Kara grins as she scoops out the oddly-dry material, placing it in a plastic bag.

She and Lena have their pumpkin hollowed out before anyone else, and Kara hands the circle cutter tool to Lena. “I have a picture of the constellations that I want on the pumpkin, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, and Draco, I’m going to wash my hands and I’ll be back-”

“It’s okay, I memorized how they look in relation to other stars and each other,” Lena shrugs as if it’s nothing, and Kara runs off before she can embarrass herself. Lena is smart, too, and Kara Danvers knows she has a Big Gay Crush™ on Lena Luthor.

Which she hates herself for because Lena would, first of all, probably never be lesbian, and, if she were, what were the odds of her liking the potato that is Kara Danvers?

When she returns, Lena has just finished poking holes for each of the stars in the constellation and is beginning to draw lines connecting them to form the constellations.

Kara takes out her paintbrush and paints, and she encounters multiple problems.

There’s no black paint. It also happens that there’s no dark blue paint either, just a periwinkle that probably was far from the color of the night sky.

Also, the pumpkin is so dry that when Lena sticks the carving tool into the pumpkin and begins to move it in and out, the entire pumpkin breaks.

Cleanly. In half.

Both girls freeze.

“Kara, I am so sorry,” It’s the first time Kara’s heard her say something faintly with emotion, and she doesn’t feel at all, devastated. 

It’s Lena Luthor. How can one be upset that she accidentally broke a pumpkin? Cleanly? In half?

“No, no, it’s fine, I have other plans anyway.”

Lena’s face is genuinely apologetic, and she honestly looks like she hates herself, so Kara picks up the top half. “This looks like a bowl,” she jokes, placing it on her head to lighten the mood.

It does, but the task is failed successfully because when she lifts the top off her hair, some pumpkin strands stick to the top of her head.

She learns that no matter how dry a pumpkin can be, it can still be messy as heck.

“Woah,” she breathes suddenly. “I just had an awesome idea.”

“What?” 

“We’re making food.”

“As in pumpkin soup, or pumpkin pie, or-”

“We’re making food out of pumpkin flesh,” she grins.

“Wha- how?” Lena gapes, signalling at the bottom half of the pumpkin. It really looks like a bowl.

“You have pumpkins, don’t you?” Kara peers into Lena’s bag. “Yeah, you do. So let’s see if we can find a particularly wet one or one with thick walls because I’m sure all my pumpkins are this dry because I got them from the same place from the same day.”

Lena’s pumpkin turns out to be extremely, almost horrendously juicy, but it smells amazing. The second they pop the lid off to reveal the insides, it almost looks like a chunky stew, with the amount of moisture in there. It’s the polar opposite of Kara’s pumpkin.

“Okay,” Kara feels ideas run into her head like an eighteen-wheeler. “Okay, so this looks like noodles so we can use those,” she pulls the thickest of strands of fibers and places them into the “bowl”.

“This is a good idea,” she smiles and takes out a smaller pumpkin with the intention of a rice bowl to go with the noodles.

“So, can you cut the pumpkin flesh into tiny pieces for rice, and find thicker fibers for the noodles? I’ll paint this and hollow the tiny pumpkin out, and we should be good.”

It is good.

They finish with three seconds to spare and put their hands above their head with a very realistic-looking bowl of ramen and a side dish of rice with sesame seeds.

It turns out, the extremely dry pumpkin makes good tonkatsu-looking beef after she paints it various shades of brown. The fish cake, painted white and bright pink, looks almost too real to be pumpkin, but thanks to Kara’s really hecking dry pumpkin, she can reassure the judges that it’s fully pumpkin.

The bowls are painted white with intricate designs, props to Lena. They have a pair of chopsticks, also carved from the pumpkin, and the juice from Lena’s extremely juicy pumpkin makes a great soup.

They clean their scraps and Lena walks Kara to buy five candy apples (One for Lena and four for Kara), and Lena watches in disbelief while nibbling at her own as Kara finishes one apple after the other.

“Kara,” Lena gapes, as she proceeds to open the package of the third apple. “How.” It’s not even a question, more of a statement, and Kara shrugs as she takes a bite just as big as her first one.

The judges are local policemen and firemen, and Kara finds great joy in explaining that everything they see is, in fact, one hundred percent pumpkin. They nod, impressed, and leave with a “thank you for your service,” called out by Kara.

They win.

There’s one trophy for the two of them to split, but the winning prize comes with a Halloween t-shirt, a bag of Halloween candy, various stationery items, and a candy apple.

Lena doesn’t even stop Kara as she begins to open the package. 

“Y’know,” Kara pipes up in between bites, watching the carnival portion of the day unfolds before them. “I don’t think I would’ve won without you. Your really wet pumpkin was really useful, and if I had been carving the constellations at the time, I would’ve probably broken the pumpkin like Humpty Dumpty. Unsalvageable.”

Lena giggles softly and Kara dies a little inside. It’s not fair how today turned out, according to Kara. Halloween had thrown a pretty girl in her face without consent, with perfect hands and a jaw to die for that Kara can’t stop thirsting over, and eyes that are such a bright green she might as well be dreaming.

It doesn’t help that she’s smart, like, really, _really,_ 1450-on-the-SATs-in--seventh-grade-year smart, and she shares interests with Kara. She’s planning to double-major in Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry, complete with a minor in Psychology, and she’s fascinated by the stars and everything in between, just like Kara.

When the end of the day nears, after an hour of dragging Lena with her to earn too much candy during the carnival games, they’ve both taken their fair share of the winnings, and they’re ready to part ways, to head back to the last thirty minutes of their homeroom class, but Kara seriously does not want to let Lena leave without something.

“It was really nice meeting you, Kara,” Lena smiles, and Kara instinctively hugs her.

“Right back atcha,” Kara replies with finger guns.

Lena rolls her eyes. “Dork.”

“Can I, like, possibly have your number so we can talk in the future?” Kara asks sheepishly (and shamelessly).

Lena’s face lights up. “Oh, yeah, sure!”

Kara takes a polaroid of everything that day, their pumpkin turned into a bowl of actually delicious-looking ramen, the two of them as they eat their candy apples, their prizes, some shots of them carving, random blurry ones where Kara’s much too eager after winning a handful of candy, and there’s one that is Kara’s favorite.

It was when Kara had finished her fourth candy apple, just as Lena had bought a second and unwrapped it, and Kara had slipped a cheesy pun about caramel and apples, so bad that Lena had an uncontrollable fit of laughter, cheeks rosy, her teeth showing, hair tousled from the contest, and Kara hangs it in her room once she gets home, front and center, on her corkboard.

Neither girl wants to leave each other, and they make a big deal of who leaves first. Finally, after minutes of persuasion, Lena says the final goodbye and climbs into her car, but not without a gentle kiss to the cheek.

It leaves Kara smiling, and so, so happy (not to mention flustered), and she clutches the polaroid to her heart. 

_Best Halloween ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we all know I suck at endings :P


	20. day twenty: game (love is a losing game (unless you're nia nal))

The start of every Danvers Game Night™ is always chaotic. People come at staggered times, usually, Kara’s already there (because it’s her apartment), Alex and Sam next, occasionally with Ruby, then Brainy and Nia, and then Winn, James, J’onn. Lena almost always shows up last, with an expensive bottle of wine or a bag of goodies in her hands. At least once during the arrival process, Kara leaves to deal with a Supergirl emergency, returning after three to ten minutes.

This time, Kara shows up with Lena, opening the apartment door to five pairs of eyes staring at them.

It’s when they realize their hands are joined, fingers intertwined not-so-platonically.

Kara, being the dork she is, releases Lena’s hand immediately, clasping her hands innocently behind her back, trying to divert the subject away from the two of them.

It doesn’t work.

Nia narrows her eyes, pushing herself to her feet from the couch. She points a shaky finger towards the two women. “Are you two…”

She doesn’t finish, because the taller of the couple nods enthusiastically, followed by a quick glance at Lena that confirms it.

“Aww, you guys,” Nia coos, holding her hands to her heart. Suddenly, she straightens up, pulling her phone from her pocket. “Tell us some details?”

Kara chuckles nervously, glancing at her girlfriend for confirmation, and Lena nods firmly once, paired with a slight smile.

“We were at the beach yesterday, and we watched the sunset and got a bit tipsy, and then I got really emotional because, well, you know what Atlovian vodka does to me, and I kinda just spilled everything I was feeling that didn’t have to do with my feelings for her.”

Alex’s brows furrow quizzically. “So how did _that_ happen?” she looks at the non-existent space between the two women.

“I’m not actually sure,” Lena chuckles, mind whirring as she attempts to recall the memorable night.

_“I see you as a friend, but also this person that’s too good for me. You’re too good for this world, and then all of a sudden, you seem unreachable.” The words tumble out quickly and quietly._

_Lena laughs, pretty and sweet. “If anyone is too good for this world, it’s you. You rose from this horrible childhood, and you were nothing but amazing and sweet and kind to me the second I met you, even when most people wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole.”_

_“Thank you, Lena,” Kara sniffs. “That means a lot to me.”_

_“Of course,” she presses her lips together in sympathy. “What makes you think I’m this unreachable person?”_

_Kara deflates. “I don’t know, honestly. It’s just that I see you as more than I can have.”_

“I think Kara let it slip somewhere that she liked me as more than a friend,” Lena settles on those words, omitting the details.

Nia grins wickedly. “So Kara admitted first?”

Kara nods.

She turns to Brainy and James, holding out a hand, palm facing upward. “Pay up, boys.”

Kara gapes. “Y-You made a bet behind our backs?”

“Nope,” Nia takes a twenty from each person and plays with the cash. 

Kara sniffs. “Then what is this?” she snatches a twenty from Nia’s hands and waves it in her face.

“Not one bet. We made, like,” Nia scrolls through her phone, counting silently. “Three.”

Lena wants to disappear in a hole in the ground, and Kara wants to actually fling Nia into the sun.

“I didn’t start it,” Nia blurts out, her gaze flickering to Alex.

“Alex! How could you?” Kara pouts crossly.

“Hey1 To be fair, I only started the first one. Everyone else made the rest.”

Lena chimes in. “So you’re all guilty.”

 _So you all get a fling into the sun,_ the reporter thinks.

J’onn backs away. “I did nothing.”

“But you knew!” Kara accuses, pointing a finger at him. “You watched it happen and you did nothing!”

The Martian scoffs. “Why would I stop this?”

Kara can hear his protests as she imagines herself flinging him into the sun.

“Okay,” Kara grumbles, flopping onto the couch. “Exchange your cash, win money, and then I’m not letting y’all stay because I’m going to spend time with Lena _without_ you guys betting behind our backs.”

“What do we have left to bet?” Nia pipes up. “When you’re getting laid?”

“Nia!”

“Sorry!”

“The bet for when they would get together after they met. This bet was placed five years ago, and I win this one again, and this time y’all are paying me, because I was the only one who thought more than four years. Alex, you and Brainy said three, and the rest of you said two or less.” She shakes her head disappointingly at the others. “You have no idea how useless these lesbians are-”

“Hey! I will-” Kara threatens.

She doesn’t actually finish her sentence.

“Wait, Nia,” Lena cuts in. “Did you cheat with your dreaming powers? Because that’s totally unfair.”

“No!” she responds immediately. “I promise, I didn’t. I would never do that.”

“Okay, carry on.”

Nia scrunches up her face. “We had a bet on how they would confess their feelings? So Winn and I betted it would be a very civil, un-Kara-like way of admitting feelings, which was partially right, James and Alex thought at least one of you would be drunk, which was also partially right, and the rest really just assumed they’d just start kissing randomly because the sexual tension would become too unbearable-”

“Alright. I’m out.” Kara throws her hands up, picks Lena up (and the expensive food and wine they brought with them), and flies to the very same beach, and changes into her civilian clothes, laying her cape as a picnic blanket.

“So, according to my calculator here, I get two-hundred dollars in winnings, Alex gets a forty, Winn gets fifty, and the rest of you just lose a bunch,” she grins, holding a hand out. 

The room seems to groan and heave a collective sigh, whether it’s in relief that they don’t have to pay, or with the disappointment that comes with giving Nia her two-hundred dollars.

“I will accept my winnings in cash, gift cards, PayPal, or my morning coffees,” she announces expectantly, and reluctantly, cash begins to pile up on her hand.

Meanwhile, on the beach, the couple is in a much better situation. Kara is refraining from drinking any more Atlovian vodka, and Lena doesn’t mind, but as they eat their “sugar fried goodness” which happens to come in the form of donuts _and_ churros, extremely crunchy, seedless, sweet green grapes that are genetically engineered (the only type Kara’s willing to eat).

“Y’know, we can still bet on Brainy and Nia’s relationship,” Lena suddenly brings up as she picks up a second churro.

“No.” Kara states firmly, facepalming herself hard enough it qualifies as a slap. “Just no. We’re not betting anymore.”


	21. day twenty-one: danvers (just as important to me as you are0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by some other Supercorptober fics, especially [PrettyPeary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyPeary)'s Danvers prompt (thankuuu!)

“Lena, we’re getting married in a week and we don’t have any of the stuff done outside of the decorations,” Kara squeals, rapidly adjusting her glasses as she pulls out the planning tablet.

From the couch, Lena sips on a cup of warm tea, holding the mug between her sweater paws, the steam slowly rising in front of her face. “We haven’t decided on a last name,” she pipes up.

“Right,” Kara plops down onto the couch next to her fiancé. 

“I’m okay with changing my last name to Danvers,” Lena shrugs casually. “Lena Danvers doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Lena,” Kara states, slowly, and drawn out. “I know how much the Luthor name means to you. A Super and her Luthor, and all that. You don’t have to change it if you don’t want to.”

“What about you? What do you suggest?” 

Kara knows her answer immediately. Or, part of it, anyway. “I would love to keep Danvers, especially because even though it’s not my real last name, it’s been a really big part of me since I landed here.”

The raven-haired woman sets down her tea and turns to face Kara, ready to listen.

“Family is so different here. On Krypton, family is focused on roles. Simply to raise the child to do good and continue to further develop the planet in certain fields. There was no focus on the love between partners or two siblings,” she explains, and Lena connects with her. There was no love or compassion between family members. Each action was to further fuel the Luthor name and done solely for the sake of it.

Kara continues, twirling a loose blond strand of hair between her fingers. As she speaks, she sounds nostalgic, as if she’s being swept into the memories, but she also sounds happy, and Lena finally realizes how  _ happy _ Kara is to be a Danvers. “So when Eliza took such great care of me. She treated me like- like I was one of them and showed me what love and family really was, and I’ve cherished being a Danvers since then. So, I would really like to keep it, but taking Luthor is also completely fine with me as well.”

“Kara,” Lena starts. “It really sounds like Danvers is a really, really important part of you, and you can’t let our marriage take that away. Danvers has become really important to me, too,” her hand finds its way to Kara’s and holds tight.

“We could keep our last names?” Kara suggests, but by the way the end of the question raises unnaturally high and the obvious hesitation behind her words, they both know it’s not an option. The Luthor name is just as important to Kara as being a Danvers is to Lena.

“I’ve never considered it, but hyphenating?” The words aren’t spoken hesitantly like before, although slow, and both women consider this.

“Luthor-Danvers or Danvers-Luthor?”

Lena plays with the pronunciations. “I like Luthor-Danvers. Lena Luthor-Davers. Kara Luthor-Danvers”

And suddenly, it just sounds so  _ right. _

“I like that,” Kara flashes a wide grin and pulls her fiancé close. “We have time to change our minds but I think we can settle on this.”

Lena seems slightly unfocused, fingers toying with the hem of her sweater absentmindedly.

“Lee? You okay?” Kara murmurs into her ear, and Lena nods firmly. “I was just thinking about the first time I met Eliza.”

Kara’s lips tug into a small smile as she remembers insisting on Lena’s accompaniment. She had been reluctant at first, stiff and awkward around Eliza, but after she had warmed up, Lena had never felt more at-home with anyone.

_ You have the Danvers. And we’re your family, no matter what. You’re part of us now. _

Kara squeezes Lena’s shoulder softly. “I’m a part of the Luthor name now, too.” At Lena’s unsure expression, she adds, “Lena, being one won’t change who I am. The Luthor name is just as important to me as the Danvers name, and having both means so, so much to me.”

Lena’s frown disappears, replaced by the almost missed twitch of her lips. “It’s just as important to me, too.”


	22. day twenty-two: whiskey (the missing ingredient to our love)

‘“Alright, Kara, your turn,” Alex picks up a glass of whiskey from the coffee table and takes a sip.

Her lips twist into a sly smile. “What’s my favorite drink?”

The cacophany of squeaks of dry erase markers against whiteboard is heard with the furious scribbling.

Kara writes the answer down slowly, taking her sweet time to cap the pen. When everyone turns their boards around on the count of three, Lena’s the only one who gets it right.

Of course, Alex is furious about this, especially because Kara’s board reads _whiskey._ And for a fact, Alex _knows_ Kara hates whiskey.

Or apparently, used to hate whiskey.

“What?” Alex all but screeches, choking on a sip of alcohol. “You’ve hated whiskey from the second you turned twenty-one!”

A nervous giggle bubbles from Kara’s lips and she and Lena share a strange glance. ‘It’s a long story.”

“Well,” Alex places her marker down onto the coffee table, hard. “It’s storytime, then, because I would like to know why I lost a point.”

_Lena’s always drinking whiskey. Kara doesn’t fail to catch the scotch bottles as she x-rays her office back six years ago with Clark. She notices a glass of amber-colored liquid in her hand almost everywhere; in the office, during game nights, Christmas parties-_

_It’s clear that Lena has a very deep relationship with the Scottish spirit._

_Kara, on the other hand, greatly despises whiskey. Of course, she’s never tried it before she met Lena (club soda and Aldebaran rum only, please) but Lena brings Kara to a non-alien bar for the first time, and Kara feels lost._

_“I’m not drinking,” Kara blurts out quickly, glancing around for any strangers that might overhear. “This doesn’t do anything to me and I don’t wanna waste your money. Plus, I’m not sure I like whiskey.”_

_Lena turns to the bartender to order two whiskeys and Kara nudges her best friend in the arm. “Lena! I told you I’m not drinking.”_

_Her only response is a shrug, and when she pushes a bill towards the bartender and a glass of caramel-colored liquid towards Kara. “Try it.”_

_She does, with the intention of a single sip._

_She hates it._

_Immediately, she chokes, holding the glass to her lips just it case it comes back out. After a copious amount of coughing and hacking, she finally gulps for fresh oxygen, resisting the urge to crush the glass in her fist._

_“It’s so strong,” she winces, clearing her throat loudly to rid the remaining bitterness. “And bitter. How do you drink this?”_

_“I’m used to it,” is the casual response, and she finishes her glass, setting it back onto the counter. Kara notices a faint lipstick stain, deep and red, on the rim of the glass, and wills herself to look away._

_“You’re not gonna drink it?” she cocks an eyebrow in question, a pale hand already creeping towards the glass._

_“Have it,” Kara pouts, swallowing saliva because it’s actually that bad and the taste and the burn lingers at the back of her throat-_

_Lena puts her lips on the exact spot Kara did previously— she can’t tell if it’s on purpose or not— and Kara almost chokes on oxygen. She dies a little inside._

_“I gotta admit,” Lena sets the second glass down, half the liquid still sloshing around. “I brought you here because I was having a stressful day and I hoped that the alcohol and the sounds would help distract me from that.”_

_Kara shoots a sympathetic look. “Well, next time, just come over to my place! You can drink Alex’s alcohol— shh, don’t tell her— and I can be very distracting,” she grins._

_“I’m sure you can, darling.”_

_Kara dies a little more inside, choking at the sound of Lena’s voice, dropping into something husky and low that Kara can’t quite place._

_Lena licks her lips._

_And a little closer to death._

_“I know what you’re thinking,” Kara saves herself quickly. “I’m not drinking Alex’s whiskey just to distract you from your work problems,” she sniffs, and laughter, pretty and sweet, spills from Lena’s lips._

_She brings the whiskey glass back up to her lips to finish the rest. When she puts the glass down, Kara can’t help that the lipstick stain on the glass has a mix of her lighter, neutral shade as well as Lena’s darker shade, layered over it._

_“In terms of saliva, we kinda just kissed.”_

_Kara doesn’t mean to say that out loud, freezing instantly, and when she manages to unfreeze, she begins to melt, heat creeping up the side of her neck, blooming across her cheeks in a flattering tomato red._

_“Oh, yeah?” Lena cocks a brow and Kara’s heart skips a beat._

Is she flirting with me I swear she’s flirting Rao help me-

_It doesn’t register that Lena’s kissing her until she feels teeth and tongue graze her bottom lip. Instantly, her world turns around and upside down and she feels like she’s falling as she responds with the same fervor, tasting Lena in her mouth._

_She tastes like whiskey._

_And suddenly, whiskey doesn’t seem too bad._

_Kara pulls away first, blinking in bewilderment, a hand instinctively lifting to ghost her lips. She’s breathing hard, lips parted just slightly, cheek flaring from Lena’s touch, just a moment ago._

_Lena smirks. “In terms of physicality, I just kissed you. I win.”_

_Kara dies a little more— a lot more— inside._

“So you just magically like whiskey now?” Alex finds this very hard o believe, still.

“Well, it’s not my favorite, considering it tastewise, but every time I taste it, it reminds me of Lena and that night,” she points out. “And the fact that if it weren’t for whiskey I wouldn’t be engaged to freaking Lena Luthor. So overall, in terms of the emotion I associate with whiskey, it’s my favorite drink.”

The rest of the room, save Lena, stares at her with matching blank expressions.

Alex places her glass of whiskey in Kara’s hands. “Drink this, then.”

“Actually,” Lena pipes up. “She doesn’t like her whiskey like that.”

Alex furrows her brows. “Then how do you like to drink your whiskey?”

Kara and Lena share a knowing glance, but nothing prepares poor Alex Danvers from Kara’s response.

“Well, I guess, indirectly. From Lena’s mouth-”

Alex chokes, and the room erupts into pandemonium, trying to speak over Kara to prevent her from finishing the sentence.

Finally, the room quiets down, and everyone looks traumatized.

“Something tells me I shouldn’t have said that.”


	23. day twenty-three: undress (and uncover all these feelings i have)

“Ugh, I don’t wanna go to class. Let’s walk slow,” Kara grins, shuffling forward at a snail’s pace, black flat scuffing the gym floor.

It’s not two seconds later before she groans. “My cello is heavy.”

Lena’s laughter is teasing. “You should’ve picked the viola.”

“Violas are-”

“Just big violins? Small cellos? Firewood?” Lena scoffs. “We’ve heard it all. Got anything new?”

Kara pouts adorably and adjusts the cello on her back.

The two seniors love playing during morning assemblies for the school, not only because it was fun to make music for people, but because the thrill of getting to school before anyone and practicing in concert attire in a large, empty gym and then missing first period in order to change and clean up was too much to ignore.

“You think we can miss half of second period as well?” Kara suggests, but her back screams no.

Lena ponders this for a moment, moving an inch forward. “We need a good reason.”

“Well, let’s help Mr. Taylor put the chairs back onto the rack then,” Kara suggests, motioning to where the conductor was stacking plastic chairs six feet high.

“Alright,” Lena giggles and the two girls set their cases onto the floor outside the gym and rush over to him.

“Do you need help putting away chairs and stands?” Lena offers in a measured tone.

Mr. Taylor offers a kind smile. “Of course, thank you, girls. You know where the stands and chairs go, right?”

He’s met with two enthusiastic nods and they begin to wheel the stacks of chairs into the hallway outside the gym.

//

“How slow can you change?” Lena teases, setting her change of clothes on the bench in the locker room, Kara following suit.

“Lemme just get my dress shirt stuck,” Kara mutters, trying to get a blonde lock stuck in one of the buttons, and after many attempts, she actually manages to successfully lodge her hair in between the button and the shirt.

“Um,” Kara laughs nervously. “I think it’s actually stuck.” She tugs on her lock of hair, pulling the shirt with her. “Help me?”

The other girl unbuttons the last of her dress shirt and slips in off her shoulders to reveal a white, practically see-through tank top underneath.

If Lena notices Kara’s blush and the awkward clearing of her throat, she doesn’t point it out.

Carefully, Lena untangles Kara’s hair, ignoring that it feels so impossibly  _ soft _ between her fingers, and she almost shivers as she wills herself to go against her extreme want to card her fingers through her golden locks.

Lena’s head is lowered, face scrunched up in determination as she frees hair from the button, lips parted subconsciously just slightly.

_ Rao, this was a mistake, _ Kara panics as Lena switches angles, knuckles brushing against her chest through fabric, her breath tickling Kara’s cheek.  _ Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm- _

“There,” Lena backs away from Kara proudly. “All good.”

“T-Thanks,” she stammers, pulling off her white button-up to stuff into her bag. Kara just so happens to have no tank top underneath it, and she hears a faint strangled noise.

Lifting her head to see where it’s from, she realizes that there are only two people in the locker room, “Lena? You good?” she asks worriedly at her figure, rummaging frantically in her bag for an article of clothing.

“Yeah,” the reply is on the edge of shaky, but Kara doesn’t fail to notice. She pushes it aside, though, grabbing a large grey t-shirt and putting it on quickly.

Lena turns around with nothing in hand and pulls off her ankle-length black skirt, stepping carefully to avoid getting a footprint on the fabric.

_ Close your eyes close your eyes close your eyes- _

She does. For two seconds, and peeks an eye open again to see Lena in shorts.  _ Short  _ shorts. 

Kara believes she’s going through flaccid paralysis. She’s rooted to the ground, hands frozen as they unbutton her dress pants, and she only unfreezes, to heat up and melt under Lena’s gaze, heat blooming across her cheeks and neck without warning.

Lena sends her a questioning glance, tilting her head slightly, but turns back around to  _ take off her shorts and put sweatpants over them _ .

Kara chokes on nothing, willing herself to look away before she can slide the shorts all the way off, and this time, her brain listens to her. She turns around to take off her dress pants (finally) and put on a pair of loose-fitting jeans.

It seems like torture every second they stay in the empty locker room, the only sound the scratching of fingers against clothes or the thump of sneakers against the concrete floor and their (too) fast breaths, the sound magnified by the walls and metal.

Finally,  _ finally, _ they finish changing, messily folding their dress clothes (trembling fingers can’t fold very well last time I checked) and throwing it into their respective lockers before heading out, instrument cases in hand.

They walk together in a not-so-comfortable silence to drop off their instruments, and Kara feels a strange tension she can’t quite place. She’s changed in front of Lena multiple times; they have PE together, for Rao’s sake. But when the other students are cut out of the scene, suddenly, all her feelings become nightmarishly magnified.

“Bye, Lena!” Kara waves as she exits the music room. “See you at PE!”  _ Where we have to change in front of each other again. _

As she walks to her second-period class, fists gripping her backpack straps tightly, she realizes that she has a terrible crush on Lena, and just now, it had found the opportunity to peek out from the depths of her and slap her across the face, before resurfacing tenfold, and not only is she crushing on her best friend, but she’s physically attracted as well. Like,  _ a lot _ a lot.

She doesn’t even realize above her flushed cheeks and messy hair, pulled into a ponytail that she and Lena successfully skipped the entirety of first period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually based on my middle school (not the plot ofc). The orchestra would play in the morning after the concert for the school and we would try to change slowly and be as late as possible to our classes. :) 
> 
> side note: I'm proud of myself for incorporating something I studied into this fic hehehehe "flaccid paralysis" is a type of paralysis (yeah, there's types) caused by the toxin Curare (ACl, competitive inhibitor) that causes flaccid paralysis, or a state where one is limp and cannot contract their muscles. There's also lockjaw from the Clostridium tetani toxin (from tetanus), and spastic paralysis (which imo sounds 2348298 times worse than the other two), caused by malathion, a cholinesterase inhibitor, and it's when your muscles are contracting and you can't relax.
> 
> you did not need to know that but hey, you learned something! (unless you already know, then carry on)


	24. day twenty-four: cold (it’s ironic how you make me feel so warm inside)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written completely on my phone while I stayed over at a friend's house when everyone else was asleep.

Lena’s hands are cold. Always cold.

Kara knows that, as a Kryptonian, with the body temperature slightly warmer than that of a human.

The first time she interlaces her fingers with Lena, she flinches into the lack of warmth. Much like her demeanor when Kara had first assumed of her.

Now, as she leans over and clasps her best friend’s waiting hand reassuringly, her hand is _cold._ It’s not the first time; she should be used to this by now, but it’s cold, even as she gingerly runs a thumb across Kara’s knuckles, the internal warmth that spreads through her overpowers the tiny bit of physical warmth.

She’s held human hands before— Alex’s, Eliza’s— but Lena seems to operate at a slightly lower temperature.

But for now, the focus is getting those journals to Lena. Because that’s what friends are for, right?

//

 _That’s not what friends are for_ , Kara thinks for the first time, trapped in a block or ice with kryptonite clueing through her beings, green glowing through her epidermis as it kills off her blood cells in her capillaries slowly, bringing her slowly to death.

She can’t die in here, not until she’s in here for longer than eight hours, but the slow burn that scratches like a sharp nail through her bones, licking at her skin from the inside out is enough to make her sink to her knees.

She deserves this, though, she tells herself. She deserves the physical pain as the one substance solely designed to kill her flows freely through her body. She deserves to stand in the cold, shivering for the first time.

But most of all, she deserves the lack of warmth in her. Her body temperature has dropped, but she doesn’t feel warmth when she looks at Lena, like she always does. Instead, she feels nothing but ice-cold as she sees Lena’s back retreating into the transmatter portal watch. She deserves the wrenching pain throughout her body that hurts _so much_ it numbs the rest of the pain. The fire of kryptonite eating at her pales in comparison to the utter heartbreak she feels seeing her best friend walk away.

People say it’s impossible to reach absolute zero. But she has now, emotionally.

//

Lena doesn’t warm up quickly when she asks for forgiveness. She seems tentative to talk, to bring things up that would normally be lighthearted and easy to talk about. There’s a new tension between their relationship— Kara’s not even sure if it counts as a friendship— that neither woman can place, but they shove it aside because they can make it work.

When she takes Lena’s hand in hers to reassure her that she completely forgives her of her previous actions, that she has nothing against her, she feels a cool hand in hers.

It whisks her back to the Fortress, when she had been so heartbroken-

Heartbroken.

In order to be heartbroken, she would have to love Lena.

And she does, she has, she has been for a while now. But it’s not just love, she realized, the thumb caressing Lena’s knuckles slowing and stopping altogether. 

She’s in love with Lena.

She’s utterly and completely, head-over-heels in love with Lena and she doesn’t think she can stop. 

“Kara?” Lena reaches over to touch her arm. Her hand is cold. “You okay?” she murmurs, voice gentle and soft as the nighttime breeze.

She reassures Lena, _yes,_ but what comes out instead isn’t what she expects.

“I can’t lose you again,” she whispers in a half-sob, voice cracking.

And the pain that comes with even thinking about not having Lena in her life feels like kryptonite.

“You won’t, darling, I promise,” Lena pulls her close, a cool blanket surrounding warmth, and Kara sinks into the embrace, crying softly into her best friend’s shoulder. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Kara recognizes this as the words she’s said to Lena years ago, and her lips crack into the tiniest twitch of a smile.l through her waterfall of tears.

Lena might be cold, but the warmth, the true and genuine warmth, truer than anything she’s ever felt, spreading through her body like wildfire, comforting and relaxing that comes with Lena’s affection overwhelms the physical lack of warmth.

It’s enough. It’s more than enough.

It’s everything Kara can ask for and more.


	25. day twenty-five: day (a beautiful start to a lifelong love letter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "I Choose You" by Sara Bareilles (one of my favorite songs ever)
> 
> Oh, also I used this date because it carries a lot of emotional weight (good and really really bad) :)

The fifteenth of May is not a good day.

It’s the day her only friend in school, Kenny, dies.

It doesn’t start out as such a bad day, though. A shadow with a façade of light. She sits with Kenny at lunch, and they talk. He tells her to meet her at a place in the Midvale National Forest and she does, sneaking out of her bedroom window to meet him past her curfew.

It seems oddly stirring, the way she rebels against the set rules. But it’s all worth it when she sees the billions of stars dotting the night sky. Every pinpoint of light even with the tiniest bit of redshift, Kara sees and likes to think it’s Krypton.

It’s a good day. Everything is breathtaking and light and amazing.

Until Kenny doesn’t come back to school.

May fifteenth is a horrible day, the day Kenny dies.

//

She spends five minutes and fifteen seconds of silence on that day every year after that to remember Kenny, his smile, his kind and caring demeanor that saw Kara for who she really was, the potential he had in every cell of his body.

She doesn’t have time on a certain fifteenth of May, however, more than a decade after Kenny’s death. She’s too excited to tag along with Kal to L-corp, and she returns to her apartment with a strange happiness she can’t quite place.

The joy she feels returns when Clark hands his piece over to Lena to read and she approves of it. Kara smiles, knowing she was the only one who had believed from the very beginning, from the first time she had seen Lena.

May fifteenth is the day she met Lena for the first time.

//

It also happens to be the day Lena shows up at her apartment, eyes red-rimmed, tears threatening to spill. When Lena apologizes, she exhales heavily, slowly, and for the first time in months, she feels something heavy leave her body just like that.

It doesn’t matter that Kara breaks into an emotional rant and accidentally spews everything she’s felt in the past months, all the hurt and the pain.

May fifteenth is the day she and Lena make up for their past actions.

//

Kara can’t think of a better day to say it.

She pulls out the ring and gets on a knee, and Lena’s hands fly to her mouth immediately, eyes brimming with tears but not letting them fall just yet.

“This day is a very special day for me,” she starts, her mind drifting along the timeline of everything that’s happened in the past fifteen years on this day. “We met for the first time on this day,” she recalls the memory of Lena’s green eyes, piercing into her own ocean gaze, flickering with surprise when she tells her she believes her. “And we made up on this day after those months.”

Lena’s red-rimmed eyes and nervous fingers front in her mind, but it quickly disappears as the present Lena, her girlfriend (but soon-to-be fiancé) lets out an involuntary sob.

“This day might not be my favorite, but it’s brought me the most emotion  _ and you, _ and looking back on it, it reminds me of everything we’ve gone through, all the highs and the lows and the ugly parts and the smooth sailing to get to where we are now. And when we look back on this in the future, there’ll be more of a story.

“So I’m asking of you now. Lena Luthor. Marry me. Marry me and continue this next chapter of life with me.”

It’s all it takes for Lena to cave, and extends a trembling hand down towards the beautiful ring. “Yes,” she croaks through her tears. “Yes, yes, always yes.”

Once the ring slips on (it fits perfectly, thank Rao), Lena pulls her fiancé up and kisses her, long and hard, fueled by emotion and feeling, and they pull apart, chests heaving, reaching for oxygen.

“I love you.”

But most importantly, May fifteenth is the beautiful start to their lifelong love letter. the first words to a neverending chapter in their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> redshift is a number that represents how fast a celestial object is moving away from us (higher redshift = faster the object is moving away). objects moving away from us tend to have a reddish tint (this would have a positive redshift) and object moving closer would have a bluish tint (and a negative redshirt). so when i point out every star with a bit of redshift, I'm pointing out the stars that appear red even though they might not be a red dwarf like Rao (which, with Kara's super-vision can probably catch red hues we can't see with our eyes, and since the universe is still expanding, most stars have a positive redshift)


	26. day twenty-six: diamond (i could live by the light in your eyes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things won’t turn out the way you want them to. but sometimes, it leaves better memories in its wake than you could ever ask for.
> 
> OR
> 
> kara has plans. big plans. but when lena ruins those plans, she can't be mad because it's ruined in the best way possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written a few months ago but I revisited, rewrote some of it, changed all the tenses (that took way too long hahah) and added some stuff! So logically it counts as writing :)
> 
> Since this was supposed to be its own fic, well, I have tags. So here they are:
> 
> [tags: [fluff](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Fluff/works), [tooth-rotting fluff](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Tooth-Rotting%20Fluff/works), [domestic fluff](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Domestic%20Fluff/works), [alternate universe - no powers](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Alternate%20Universe%20-%20No%20Powers/works), [marriage proposal](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Marriage%20Proposal/works), [established relationship](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Established%20Relationship/works), [inspired by music](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Inspired%20by%20Music/works), [ruined plans](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/ruined%20plans), [ehehe i can't add anymore otherwise I'll ruin the surprise](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/ehehe%20i%20can't%20add%20anymore%20otherwise%20i'll%20ruin%20the%20surprise)]
> 
> so the links for the tags actually work- click on em and they'll bring you to the tags page!
> 
> Oh, and the title is from Sara Bareilles's "I Choose You" (again).

Kara leaves the office early.

As she steps into her apartment and shuts the door behind her, the usual wave of comfort and home found solely in the familiar, warm colors of her apartment doesn’t engulf her, but instead, an urgency, a need tugs at her greedily to  _ hurry up and get this thing done. _

Her surroundings are quiet; no one is home, as usual, but that doesn’t stop Kara from tip-toeing to her bedroom, wincing whenever a wooden floorboard creaks under her slippers, eyes wide and alert, ears pricked for unusual sounds.

The hairs on her neck stand up on end, the nape of her neck prickling uncomfortably, but when she reaches her side of the bed and the nightstand next to it, she feels her entire body relax, and she pulls the box out from the secret compartment built into the drawer.

Despite her conscience screaming to stop obsessing over the ring, she has to check if it’s still there, right? And so for the millionth time, she opens the box carefully, a movie scene playing out before her eyes, the late afternoon sun reflecting off the breathtaking ring, the roaring soundtrack as the box opens slowly, revealing the ring bit by bit, the sharp intake of breath as she sees the ring-

Kara snaps the box closed quickly before she can get carried away. It’s a fairly simple ring, and she knows without a doubt that Lena will love it. 

But now, the speech. Winging it is probably the best shot she has at the moment.

“Here we go,” She blows out a heavy breath, toes curling in her fluffy slippers, and begins to pace heavily on the wooden floor of her room until there’s a visible dent in the wood. The tiny velvet box is clenched tightly in a hand— but not too tight, or it would break and damage the beloved item inside.

“Lee— no, Lena, ugh,” she huffs impatiently, running her fingers through her golden locks anxiously. If she can’t even start it, how’s she going to ask the question?

Turning around to glance at the door, she realizes that it’s unlocked, and quickly darts to it, locking it quickly. If Lena had walked into their room at the time, it would ruin  _ everything. _

“Lena,” she starts again, fidgeting with the box. 

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispers bitterly under her breath after a moment of silence.

She’s a reporter, goddammit. She can write an entire report that affected the world’s entire outcome and brush it off like it’s nothing. She has a way with words no one else has, a way that made readers feel as if they were being affected, a way that urged people to take action. 

But this… is much harder. It’s harder than saving the world through reporting, and much harder than coming up with and executing one of her hope speeches.

A couple of stretches and sips of coffee later and her surroundings are organized, not an eraser crumb to be seen. She rests her hands onto the keyboard, and begins to type every possible line to propose with.

But none of it seems good enough.

“Eliza,” she groans into the phone. The sun is starting to set, casting an orange glow across the room, and Lena would be back within fifteen minutes for their date, where she would pop the question.

_ “Yes?” _

“Idon’tknowhowtoproposetoLena!” she whispers frantically. 

_ “What?” _

“IwannaproposetoLenatonightbutIdon’tknowhow-” she inhales in between the messy string of words. ”likeIdon’tknowwhattosayand-”

_ “Kara, honey,” _ she hears a low chuckle on the other end. “Breathe.”

Kara sucks in a huge inhale before letting it out slowly through her mouth.

_ “So what’s going on?”  _ she asks calmly.

“I don’t know what to say to propose, like, what if I say something wrong and she says no? I’m trying to write a script but-”

Eliza cuts her off again.  _ “Don’t write a script. It’ll sound rehearsed and not whole-hearted. It won’t be perfect, but in the moment, all you need to do is speak from your heart.” _

“Okay,” she breathes out, suddenly overwhelmed. “Okay, thank you, Eliza.”

_ “Of course. And tell me how it goes!”  _

“Okay,” Kara laughs nervously. “Bye!”

_ Speak from my heart. Got it. _

Kara tries to speak without thinking, letting the words spill from her lips as she professes her true love towards a mirror.

It’s not as nearly as easy as it seems. She talks through five different scenarios, but it only further drains her physically and emotionally.

“Alright,” she sighs, dumping her notecards onto the floor. “Last one, or I’m throwing the ring at her.”

“Lena,” she speaks slowly and out loud this time, opposed to the previous five times, where she had only muttered them under her breath.

“Do you remember when we first met?”  _ Starting off with a question as a hook. That’s fourth grade-level crap. _

“You were my boss and I had to be professional, but I knew I could get away with doing extra. You seemed cold and aloof and reserved, and everyone thought you were like that inside. I remember Nia telling me to stop giving you more than you asked for, because you didn’t deserve it. But you deserve more than everything this world has to offer. I’m so, so lucky and more than happy that I got to see who you really are.

“Lena means ‘moonlight’ and is derived from the name Selena, meaning moon. You’ve always told me I was like the sun. You even got me sunflowers for my birthday,” she admires the fake sunflowers on her nightstand, next to the mirror, resting in a clear, tall, milk bottle vase, the petals bright and sunny. The flowers seem to emit an aura that makes Kara feel warm inside, reassuring her and coaxing her to continue.

“The sun and the moon are on the opposite ends of the sky, just like we were before. For years, I thought you didn’t notice me, and I never knew you would notice me, of all people. But you started to warm up, just like how the moon reflects the sun’s light. “

_ This is the one, _ Kara thinks, feeling a genuine grin tug at her lips, and she presses her cold hands towards her warm cheeks, knowing that the smile would last.  _ I guess six is my lucky number. I guess six is our lucky number.  _

“I’ve been told we’re complete opposites. Fire and ice. Earth and space. North and south. Dusk and dawn,  _ The sun and the moon. _ But opposites attract, right? After all, it is true for magnets.” she slaps herself mentally. Science nerd.

“But, eclipses happen once in a while, don’t they? A-And I can feel one happening right here, right now. So, Lena Luthor, will you marry me? No— Lena Kieran Luthor, will you marry me?”

She slips the box out of her back pocket and opens it, the ring facing the mirror. Even in the reflection, the stone catches Kara’s eye, just like it had the first time she had seen it.

“Yeah, so it’s ‘Lena Kieran Luthor, will you marry me?’,” she notes breathlessly, “Full name.”

_ I did it! I spoke from my heart! _ Kara beams excitedly, feeling a new exhilaration course through her veins.  _ Now I just have to- _

“Yes, yes, and yes.”

Her heart drops.

Kara swivels around so fast her glasses fly off and across the room. “W-wha- Lena? I thought- I- Aren’t you at work- How did you come in?” She sputters, feeling all the blood in her body drain through her feet. Then, it rushes back at once, creeping up the side of her neck and making its way to her ears.

Lena is standing at the doorway, the door wide open, and she’s pressing her lips together as she tries to hold back laughter. Or tears? No one can tell.

Her hair is a mess, soaked and tangled from the shower, and she stands there, gaping, in her oversized Totoro t-shirt and Star Wars sweatpants, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. “Did I just say that out loud? I- Kara, I'm so sorry.”

Kara nods, pressing her lips in a thin line, her face unreadable.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” She chokes on her tears, wiping them away quickly. ”Say it again?” she prompts, gesturing frantically with her other hand. “Or, you don’t have to,” she adds, her face dropping immediately. “I get it if I ruined it-”

“Oh, Lena,” Kara rolls her eyes, cheeks still burning, and snaps the velvet box closed. ”You heard all of it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” the raven-haired girl admits sheepishly, her cheeks glowing a soft pink as well.

“Wait, how did you get in?” Kara stammers, brows knitting at the sight of the open door.

Lena looks perplexed. “Um, the door was unlocked.”

“No, it wasn’t. I specifically remember locking the door so you wouldn’t come in,” she insists.

“Oh, right, the new lock I installed yesterday? It’s backwards.”

”Lena!” she laughs accusingly.

Lena puts her hands up in the universal sign of surrender. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you?”

“Nah,” Kara scoffs, laughing softly. “It’s okay.”

“Good,” Lena’s features relax, breaking into a smile.

All things forgotten, the reporter steps closer to Lena, admiring the way the orange light from dusk makes her eyes glow an unearthly sapphire color. ”You look beautiful.” 

Lena lets out a loud, impolite cackle, so unlike the professional version of herself, and she glances down at her outfit. ”Yeah, my pajamas just look so good.”

The reporter snorts, doubling over until there are tears in her eyes and her side is clenching in pain, and even then, Lena casts an admiring gaze at the beautiful woman before her, her hair down, golden waterfalls cascading down her shoulders. Like every time, she notices the way Kara’s eyes crinkle at the corners when she smiles genuinely at someone, her lips, pulling into a bright grin that seems to light up the room, and soon enough, it pulls at Lena to join in with the laughter.

After the two compose themselves, Kara sighs contentedly. It definitely isn’t how she planned it would unfold, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows it’ll leave just as good of a memory as getting down on a knee as “I Choose You” by Sara Bareilles plays in the background. 

But that’s overrated, isn’t it? 

Kara drops to a knee and opens the box, revealing the ring to Lena, letting the precious stone shine in the orange light of the bedroom.

A tiny diamond is pressed gently into the ring, sitting beautifully in a ring of rose gold, the metal band the same rose gold. She turns the box in her hands, her lips tugging upward into an involuntary grin at the way the diamond seems to almost change colors as she shifts the box in the evening light. Just like Lena’s eyes.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better person in my life, and I can’t imagine my future without you in it. Lena Kieran Luthor,” she states boldly, laughing inwardly at her own reminder to use her girlfriend’s full name. “Will you marry me?”

Lena is speechless, her mouth moving soundlessly as she tries to find words that describe the overwhelming sensation of love, joy, and most importantly, hope, that courses through her body, but she opts to move in for a kiss. It says so much more, anyway. 

Kara lifts the ring out of the box, sliding it slowly onto Lena’s finger (it fits just right). She closes her eyes and grabs Lena’s hands, holding them in hers softly, letting the feelings wash over her calmingly, like the low tide as waves gently lap at the sand, the barest hint of foam crashing onto rock.

Lena rests her forehead on Kara’s softly, two pairs of eyes flickering open, green and blue and everything in between, the green Atlantic meeting the bluer Pacific, the endlessly blue sky reaching down, down, down to touch the land below it.

Stars, no, something brighter explodes behind their eyes, and the sun and the moon collide for the first time, setting the world ablaze in flames. 

So  _ this  _ is what an eclipse feels like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIX BETTER BE THEIR LUCKY NUMBER BECAUSE WE NEED SUPERCORP IN SEASON SIX


	27. day twenty-seven: desk (i love you like a table)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from "I Love You Like A Table" from the musical Waitress!

Supergirl lands softly on the balcony of L-corp, her boots touching down onto the floor softly.

She immediately notices that one of Lena’s desk legs are broken, the entire table wobbling inconveniently as she writes onto a notepad.

“Hey!” Kara calls, immediately ditching her Supergirl aura and shuffling shyly to her girlfriend to give her a sweet kiss.

“Hey you,” Lena smiles, continuing to scribble, and Kara moves to the other side of the table, eyeing the wobbling desk.

“I could get a new desk for you,” she offers. “Desks love me and I love desks. This week, I helped  _ three _ families build their IKEA tables. Three!”

A small chuckle escapes from Lena but she doesn’t look up as her eyes flicker from screen to screen. “I think I can deal-

The desk creaks and wobbles precariously, and then it falls. Luckily, with Kara’s lightning-fast reflexes, she manages to catch it before all the important items on the desk can shatter. 

“You can deal?” Kara harrumphs, setting the top piece of the desk on the ground gently. “Try writing on this,” she snorts.

“Okay,” Lena sighs, an arm darting up to rub the sore muscles in her neck.

“I’ll go get one now,” she shoots Lena a glare. “While I’m at it, go get some water and stretch and just relax. You need a break.”

Lena opens her mouth to object, but she’s silenced as Kara launches off the balcony, leaving Lena blown by the resulting gust of wind.

//

Kara returns in no more than thirty minutes, a giant box in her hands. “So I actually pondered what desk to get and after seeing every single one in the IKEA with my x-ray vision, I have decided that not only does this match the decor of your insanely white office, but it’s convenient and useful,” she grins, unpackaging the box.

“Build it with me?” she offers, and tosses the instructions over to her girlfriend. “Or rest, you choose.”

“I’ll watch you,” Lena settles onto the white couch, her once ramrod straight back molding into the shape of the couch.

She finishes in about twenty minutes without her powers, and declares proudly that it’s built with love.

“Lena,” she squeals after inserting the last knob on the last drawer. “Can I give you a desk tour?”

From the couch, the woman nods.

Kara grins widely. “Okay, so I know you like glass tops so this entire section is glass. It’s adjustable so you can use this button to lower and raise the height, if you want to stand or sit. It comes with six drawers, three on each side, with enough leg room for three people, and there’s a wireless charging station right here, if you just put your phone on this circle.” 

She makes a huge deal of all the features, no matter how small, gesturing to it grandly and smoothing her hands over the material as if it’s the softest thing in the world. “I’m so proud of this, Lena. It’s practically my baby.”

Lena pouts. “I thought I was baby.”

“You are!” Kara is quick to reply, and she flops onto the couch next to Lena to lay a head of golden curls onto Lena’s shoulder. “I love you!”

Lena snorts. “You love the desk too,” she points out.

“Well,” Kara’s mind grasps for something to say. “I love you like a table.”

Lena blinks twice. “ _ What?” _

“I love you like a table,” she sings, grinning.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, lips breaking into a confused smile.

Kara grins, and tells Hope to play “I Love You Like a Table.”

She does, and Kara stands up, smoothing down her suit quickly before holding a hand out to Lena as the intro plays.

As Lena takes her hand, she starts singing.

She should really stop, mostly because Jess is standing, very confused at the doorway and Lena has a meeting in fifteen minutes, but it’s Kara, and she’s unstoppable.

“Your white dress sparks words, spontaneous,” she starts, her voice deep, imitating a man’s and Lena shakes her head, laughter spilling through parted lips. “I’ll sing from mountain tops. I am in love, and I don’t care who knows it.” Kara flings her arms open to sing for the world.

“Lucky me, I was ordinary. But with your love you see, I am a po-o-o-o-o-em writer.”

Lena shakes her head, resting it in her hands as Kara dances and sings around her, carefree as a bird.

“And I will express this if I’m able, I love you like a table.”

The music stops there when Kara tells Hope to stop, and she flies to Lena to peck her cheek. “I love you like a table!”

“I still don’t know what that means.”

“I sang a song for you!”

“Yes, you did. It made no sense.”

“Come on!” Kara pouts. “It’s from Waitress!”

“Sugar, butter, flour?”

“Yeah!”

“You are unbelievable, darling,” Lena shakes her head and moves to sit at her new desk. “But, I chose to love you,” she sighs, and begins typing again. 

“Like a table?” Kara grins, trying her best not to crack into an unstoppable fit of laughter.

However, the responding shout makes her laugh harder.

“No!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gosh i am really good at coming up with crack ideas and screwing up endings


	28. day twenty-eight: book (in between the pages lies our hearts and souls)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon was a huge inspiration for this chap :)

Lena’s block days are staggered horribly, meaning her worst three classes are in one day. She _hates it._

Autopilot engaged. She’s in survival mode, trying to stay awake simply so she can pretend like she’s paying attention when she already knows most of the material in all of her classes.

By fourth period, she’s already falling asleep, and as she walks into her CompSci class, she notices a small book, sitting on the corner of the desk, a tiny paperback copy of _The Little Prince._

She sits down at her seat and picks up the book, flipping through for a name or the school library stamp to return it. When she flips open the cover page, in cute, loopy handwriting, she reads:

_If found, please return to Kara Danvers :)_

_Reward: I will pay you either in hugs or food_

_Most likely hugs tho_

_Because I love my food_

_And if I’m willing to sacrifice my food for you_

_You mean a lot to me :)_

Autopilot disengaged.

This is… different, she’ll admit. It’s not common in the smallest public school in town for something remotely interesting to happen, and even something like this makes her smile.

It vanishes when the bell rings, just like any other anomaly in her day.

Correction: It gets buried by the lecture. But she does notice Kara’s smiley faces appearing in her mind. The way the smile is so big it cuts across the lines of the face or how the smile and the circle are drawn in one stroke, or the way the eyes are always close together stands out to her. It’s cute, Lena admits.

And in no way does she plan on giving the book to the teacher to return to Kara. She’ll find Kara herself, no matter what it takes.

Lena takes the book home with her that night.

//

She finds Kara’s schedule by hacking through the school’s mainframe. It’s the easiest and quickest way (for her, at least), and once she scans Kara’s classes, she realizes she has her AP Chemistry class right before Kara’s on Mondays and Fridays.

Inside, she sticks a small sticky note, with the words, _found it, no rewards required (but feel free to) - L.L.,_ and practically beams inwardly as she shuffles the hallways to her next class.

//

She finds the book back on her desk in her fourth period on a boring block day again, a week from when she first found the book, and immediately snatches it to read whatever note Kara had left her.

_I have decided I shall repay you. In front of Rm. 104, lunch. Show up or not, I won’t mind. :) - K_

She doesn’t need to think twice about her answer and scribbles an enthusiastic reply.

_You know I can’t pass up such an opportunity. - L_

And so she darts enthusiastically out of class to find a blonde girl holding a lunch pail, leaning casually against the wall outside of 104.

“Kara?” Lena tilts her head and smiles, noticing a pretty blue in Kara’s eyes. 

“Hi!” Kara pushes off the wall and waves enthusiastically with a tiny bounce, causing Lena’s lips to crack into another smile— something she doesn’t do often. _She’s so precious. And I’m so gay._

“Here’s your book,” Lena hands the paperback, still in mint condition despite its trip in and out of backpacks. “I’ve always loved that book.”

“Thank you, uh, I haven’t gotten your name yet, L.L.” she teases expectantly.

“Lena. Lena Luthor.”

“Okay, Lena, are you a hundred percent okay with me repaying you in hugs? Because I mean what I said; I like my food.” Lena notices her grip her lunch bag a bit tighter.

“A hundred and ten percent okay,” she confirms, though she can’t remember the last time she hugged someone. Hell, she doesn’t even remember how to hug someone. “I forgot how to hug people,” she adds.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Kara sets her lunch bag down and bounces over to Lena to wrap her arms around her tightly. “How’s that?” she murmurs, her breath tickling Lena’s ear.

Tentatively, she feels her arms wrap around Kara’s waist, being a few inches shorter.

“Relax,” Kara laughs, and Lena finally realizes how tense she is. Her shoulders are high, eyebrows knitted tightly, arms stiff, and she lets herself melt into Kara’s embrace, her cheek Lena on Kara’s shoulder. 

“This is nice,” she mumbles.

Kara pulls away. “See? You’re a natural at hugs,” she grins and Lena blushes, just barely, under her gaze.

“Thanks for the book, Lena!” she repeats, one last time, before grabbing her lunch bag. “I’ll see you around?”

Lena nods wordlessly, cheeks still flaring. God, she had forgotten how much she's missed hugs.

//

Lena had expected their interactions to end. After all, they never passed each other in the hallways, never had classes together, and Lena spent her lunch and breaks in the library studying, which Kara certainly did not do.

The following block day, she sees the book, placed at the corner of her assigned seat again.

 _Again?_ Is the first thought that comes to mind, but when she flips open the cover, she sees a new post-it, stacked on top of the old one.

_Oops! How forgetful of me! - K ;)_

_P.S. Love is everything. Everything._

That makes Lena flush, and she tucks her head deeper into her sweater as the language teacher begins to talk about… whatever, it’s not like she’s paying attention. She sticks another pale blue post-it on top of Kara's bright pink ones, signaling it’s hers, and she scribbles down:

_Yes, very forgetful of you. You better start taking responsibility for your items; it seems like Lena Luthor is a recurring victim to Kara Danvers’s forgetfulness._

_Ah, Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon. Underrated. If I were stuck in my house for eighteen years, I definitely would have invited a girl over and kissed her, just for the sake of love and breaking rules. Because love is everything, isn’t it? - L_

She places it in Kara’s locker this time, which is unlocked when she walks by (how irresponsible of her!), and makes sure to lock the locker for her.

 _P.S.,_ she adds. _Can’t believe Lena Luthor had to lock Kara’s locker for her. How irresponsible!_

She might not hate block days after all.

//

It turns out that Kara and Lena have much in common. They’ve read all the classics, and it doesn’t help that they both find enjoyment in analyzing quotes and they’re both huge science nerds.

When Lena slips the book into Kara’s slightly unzipped backpack this time (seriously, look at all this irresponsibility! All for Lena, I assume), she stands in the middle of the hallway, students streaming around her on both sides, and smiles.

As cliché as it sounds, it’s necessary, also because Lena now needs some time to think about her feelings.

Or a lot of time.

//

The notes start to get scattered around the book, some on different pages, some with quotes, and some leading to other post-its on different pages, and it’s not long before the book is twice as thick, with probably a record number of sticky notes in a book.

They never ask to meet each other, or text. The conversation continues solely through sticky notes.

//

Lena’s decided she’s had enough of this. Plus, the poor book can’t handle many more sheets of sticky notes between its pages, so she asks Kara something really, _really_ important.

_Do you have another favorite book we can cover with notes and vandalize until it’s as fat as the Bible? - L_

Very important.

//

Lena has been called a useless lesbian by her only friend, Sam Arias when Lena tells her every detail of the situation, including her feelings (that, after four months, are definitely not so under control anymore).

“Just ask the girl out!” Sam whisper-shouts during lunch (they’re in the library).

“She probably doesn’t even know I’m a-” Lena glances and mouths the last word, “lesbian.”

Sam, as the good friend she is, flips to the exact sticky note where Lena mentions kissing girls. “I’m sure she’s been thinking about this the first time she saw it and is still thinking about this.”

“There’s a very low probability of that actually happening.”

“Lena!” she hisses and gets shushed by a good amount of surrounding students. “This isn’t math! This is about you and your feelings and love and those things do not follow the rules.”

“One,” Lena scoffs, “This isn’t love. Two, I’m flattered you think I don’t follow the rules but I do. Most of the time anyway.”

“Oh, shut up. You're practically head over heels for her. And,” Sam nudges her friend. “You’ll never know until you try.”

//

Kara is officially labeled as a useless bisexual. It turns out that only the liking girls part of the bisexual is useless, too.

As a lesbian older sister, Alex should know what to do, so Kara asks her, tells her all the things that have happened in the last four months, and is now a useless lesbian according to Alex.

“Alex! She doesn’t even know I like girls!”

Alex shrugs. “Make it clear, then.”

“It’s not that easy!”

“You'll never know until you try.”

//

The next time she receives a book, it’s a copy of _Everything, Everything,_ and she flips through the book to find words to express her feelings towards Kara.

She writes a list of page numbers on a sticky note, and on each page, one word is circled. Ultimately, this is a way to ask Kara out.

It’s also a good way because she doesn’t have to see Kara’s face when she reads the note.

It’s also a bad way because it takes way too long for a response.

//

Lena doesn’t get a response until a week later when she hears that Kara had taken a couple of days off to visit her family in Midvale.

The note gives her a single page number, followed by a smiley face.

See, this is the scary part. Lena’s read the book before. There’s a good amount of _no’s_ and _yes’s_ and possibly some _maybe’s._

She flips agonizingly slowly to the page, one page at a time, her fingers just about trembling as she turns the last page and scans for the circled word.

It’s not a word, but instead, a quote.

_Everything's a risk. Not doing anything is a risk. It's up to you._

And at the bottom of the page, scrawled in tiny handwriting, are the words, _thank you for taking that risk,_ followed by ten tiny numbers.

Ten numbers that Lena knows she’ll have memorized by the next minute and ten numbers that'll mean everything, _everything_ to her.


	29. day twenty-nine: dinner (you have me now)

“Seems like a nice kid,” Lillian remarks coolly over the sounds of forks scraping against plates, and Lena breathes out a subtle sigh of relief, sharing a glance with James. “Smart.”

Lena shoots a glare at Lillian and scarfs down the rest of her food quickly to get out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. James does the same, and once she finishes her last bite and wipes her mouth with a napkin, she excuses herself and James and stands up.

She winces when James slips his hand in hers, and it takes James to squeeze her hand tightly to remind her how tense she is.

“We should get going,” she picks up her bag and exits the front door, not bothering to turn around to spare her mother and her brother a second glance.

“Be back before-”

“Ten, yeah, yeah, I know,” she dismisses and slams the door shut.

The tension in the air evaporates immediately, and both teenagers breathe out a collective sigh as they head to James’s car.

Once the car turns around the corner, Lena feels it’s safe to speak.

“Thank you. Really,” she pulls a hundred dollars from her wallet. “Here.”

James snatches the money and slips it into his pocket, grinning madly. 

Lena rolls her eyes. Typical James.

“Well, if you ever need me to cover for you, I’m willing.” 

Lena scoffs, turning to look out the passenger seat window. “You just want the money.”

“True,” he decides, and they arrive at Kara’s house.

“Have fun!” he unlocks the car and Lena steps out, following the cement driveway up to the house. “Tell me about it tomorrow!” he calls through the open window as she reaches the door, and Lena turns to flip him off.

He drives away with a grin.

When Lena turns around to face the front door of kara’s house, she stiffens, pulling herself straighter and taller, before ringing the doorbell.

Kara answers the door. “Hey, Lena!” She greets with a warm hug, waves to her mom. “I’ll be back by ten!”

And they’re alone again.

“Does your mom not realize that this is a date and we’re not just friends?” Lena jokes, once they're in the privacy of Kara’s car.

“Nah, she’s fine with it.”

This makes Lena’s eyebrows fly to her hairline. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Kara nods. “She’s very accepting. And it kinda helps that Alex is lesbian too.”

From the way Lena purses her lips together, Kara knows in a heartbeat that Lena’s mother is nowhere as accepting, needless to ask.

“I hope your mom sees you for who you really are,” is all she says, and Lena throws her a small smile. Though the rest of the car ride is in silence, it’s not uncomfortable or awkward, and Lena finds herself nodding her head to the music.

Kara orders an unhealthy amount of snacks at the drive-in. Nachos, popcorn, Icee's, she has armfuls of food Lillian would never let her touch. 

“This is your dinner, Kara,” Lena reminds her.

“Yeah,” she says around a mouthful of popcorn. “This is my dinner.”

Lena scoffs at that, eyeing the plethora of junk food in front of her, and orders a salad.

Kara chokes on her Icee. “Lena!”

“You okay?”

“Yes,” she hacks, clearing her throat. “You’re eating rabbit food for dinner.”

“I already ate a bit at home, this isn’t too filling.”

Kara gasps like it’s the most dramatic thing in the world. “You’re eating green stuff,” she states disbelievingly.

“Yes. I’m eating green stuff,” Lena echoes, taking a giant forkful of kale into her mouth. “Want some?”

Kara fakes a gag and stuffs a handful of heavily-buttered popcorn into her mouth. “Nope. Rather stick with this.”

//

They finish their meal before the movie starts, and they have a decent spot near the middle of the drive-in, with fewer cars around them. The whispers of the nearest car can’t be heard over the slight breeze and the volume of the movie.

By the time the exposition is over, the sun has gone down fully, replaced by an inky black sky dotted with white freckles of light.

Kara chooses a musical to watch, and she hums in tune with all the songs.

She’s never heard Kara sing before. Lena’s eyes veer from the screen and to Kara, who is singing too passionately along with the protagonist, and from afar, she admires the passion in her voice as she sings quietly, feet swinging to the beat. Her eyes close from time to time, but when they open, the light of the screen gives her eyes an ethereal glow, a beacon of light in the darkness of night.

Kara slips into the higher harmony at the end of the song and ends in time and Lena takes this opportunity to scoot closer. “I didn’t know you sang.”

“I’m not in theater or anything,” she whispers, sitting on her hands shyly. “I like singing for fun.”

“I love your voice,” she blurts out, and Kara’s head pivots quickly to give Lena a questioning stare. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she smiles. “It’s really soothing. Your middle range is really good.”

Lena can see a faint darkening in her cheeks through the faint light, and Kara takes Lena’s hand in hers. “Thank you. That really means a lot to me.”

The movie ends up almost putting Lena to sleep, but she doesn’t mind because it gives her a free excuse to lay her head on Kara’s well-built shoulders.

Afterward, they throw away their snacks, and Kara drives on a path Lena’s never been on before.

“Where are we going?” she asks, holding Kara’s free hand as she navigates through the narrow road.

“One of my secret places,” the blonde replies. “I haven’t brought anyone here before but I felt the urge to earlier,” she admits, and Lena’s heart does something close to a messy tumble.

Lena doesn’t know how to respond to that, so she gives Kara’s hand a squeeze and smiles.

After ten minutes of winding roads and shrubbery, the car pulls to a stop in an open field. They’re surrounded by plants on all sides, obscuring the area from any outsiders, and Kara opens the trunk and sunroof and pushes the two back seats down to make a bed.

“I used to come here all the time as a child,” her head rolls to the side to glance at Lena. “I never felt truly at home with Alex when they first adopted me so I found this place one day and I’ve never told anyone.”

“Until now,” Lena finishes, her eyes meeting Kara’s. “Thank you for showing me such a private place, Kara, I don’t know what to say.”

“You’re special,” she replies cheekily.

Lena flushes in response and nudges Kara’s figure with a shoulder. “Aw, I’m flattered. But also, you were adopted?”

“Yeah,” Kara sighs, but Lena can’t pinpoint the emotion behind it. “I was twelve when both my parents died in a fire. The Danvers adopted me and they’ve been my family ever since.” Her voice drops in volume as she speaks, and she wipes a tear away. “Sorry-”

“No, I’m sorry,” Lena interrupts, laying a gentle hand on Kara’s arm. “I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t know it was that recent.”

“Five years,” Kara shrugs. “Still not used to it.”

“Yeah,” Lena sighs. “It’s been thirteen for me and I feel like an outsider.”

Kara looks surprised. “You were adopted too?”

“Yeah, I was born in Ireland. When my mom died, my dad brought me here and Lillian adopted me. She’s never been exactly kind to me, always made me feel like I really wasn’t a part of the family.”

“Oh my gosh, Lena, I’m so sorry.”

Lena shakes her head. “I’m used to it.”

Kara’s voice is tiny as she responds. “I always feel like I don’t have anyone that gets me, y’know. Not even Alex or Eliza. They’re kind and all but they don’t know what it’s like to lose so much.”

Lena’s fingers find a loose strand of hair and play with it distractedly. “I’ve never really had a mother figure past the age of four either. My dad- he died early after and my brother just wanted to torture me.”

“Well,” Kara rolls over and lays an arm around Lena, her chin resting on the other girl’s shoulder. “Now you have me.”

Lena’s hands lay on top of Kara’s, and she turns to lean against her head. “Thank you.”

The words come out as a faint whisper, but it’s heard anyway.

Lena glances at her watch, sitting up, and Kara follows suit.. “It’s nine, I should be heading back soon. Sorry, my mom is… paranoid even though she probably couldn’t care less about me. Controlling and all that.” She rolls her eyes.

“Mm, the ride back is about fifteen minutes. Thirty more minutes?”

Lena realizes she can’t say no. “Okay.”

Kara smiles gently, and Lena’s hands fly subconsciously to Kara’s face, holding her happiness in her hands.

Her eyes land on Kara’s lips, pretty and full, turned upward into a genuine smile that reaches the corners of her eyes, and she’s never wanted more than to taste Kara’s smile.

“Can I kiss you?” she whispers shakily, waiting for a nod or a response.

Instead, Kara closes the small gap between them (when did it get so small?) and fits her mouth with Lena’s.

Lena’s never kissed anyone before until now, and she immediately worries if she’s good enough.

She pulls apart with a muttered  _ sorry, _ and Kara shakes her head, smiling. Lena feels beautiful under Kara’s awed expression, blue eyes roaming every inch of her face, porcelain skin just barely illuminated in the moonlight.

Kara runs a soothing thumb across Lena’s cheek and onto her lips, feeling the softness there, dipping in just slightly before pulling her thumb away, and just like that, all of Lena’s worries melt away as Kara replaces her thumb with her lips, soft and slow against her own.

Lena keeps her lips stationary at first, letting the feeling wash over her, and when Kara moves her lips slowly, she follows tentatively, mouths pulling apart and meeting again and again.

The entire time, Lena feels Kara’s hand, cradling her cheek and chin softly as if she’s made of thin candy, fingers brushing over smooth skin gently, and it only fans Lena’s spark of want and desire into flame.

The kiss never deepens and lasts no more than thirty seconds, but nonetheless, Lena pulls apart, breathless, eyes opening slowly to catch Kara’s beautiful face.

“I liked that,” Lena admits. “I liked that a lot.”

“I did too,” Kara pulls her close, fingers gingerly playing with the wispy, short strands of hair at the nape of Lena’s neck.

Lena’s never understood physical contact. The need to reach out and hug someone, or run her fingers along a forearm, or press her lips softly against a temple. But with Kara, she feels the need to touch her every second, even if it’s just the tip of her finger with skin, but pulling away feels so wrong.

They lay down again to gaze at the stars, but both their gazes end up on each other, scanning each other’s faces, fingers tracing skin idly. They don’t move closer to close the gap and kiss, but just the intimacy of the situation, the physical contact, their shared breaths, is enough to make Lena’s head spin with emotion.

//

However, they had to leave at one point, and Lena finds herself playing with Kara’s fingers on the ride back to James’s house, rubbing her thumb across Kara’s knuckles, interlocking their hands, anything to keep touching.

Their final kiss is shorter than they would both like but lingers, and Lena chases Kara’s lips after she pulls away.

“I had so much fun with you,” Lena whispers, and opens the door, only letting go of Kara’s hand when she’s about to fall off the curb and Kara’s just about climbing over the center console.

Lena watches the car go, eyes glimmering with emotion as Kara turns the corner, and she trudges slowly to James’s front door.

He opens it and they sit in James’s car, the car off for a bit. “So, how was it?” he looks at Lena unexpectedly.

Lena finds herself comparing James’s friendly look to the way Kara had looked at her earlier. She misses the blue that reminded her of the skies on a good day, her favorite color. “It was good. Really good.”

James chuckles. “What did you do?”

“We watched the movie, Kara ate way too many snacks for someone her size, and then we stargazed for a bit.”

“Ooh, romantic,” he wiggles his eyebrows and starts the car, and the conversation ends there, even though she senses that James has a million more questions on the tip of his tongue.

She waves a goodbye to James, making sure to give him a (reluctant) kiss on the cheek just in case her mom had been watching.

When she steps into the large double doors, she’s greeted by her mother’s cool stare, and just like that, everything snaps back to the way it was. Lena, Lillian, and Lex. Not a sister, mother, and a brother, just three people, living independently in the same house.

She walks to her room to shut herself from the rest of the home when her phone buzzes, Kara’s contact on the front.

Lena smiles.

She has Kara now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GO STREAM POSITIONS IT'S SO GOOD AHHHHH
> 
> i recommend listening to the entire album but mostly the following songs:  
> six-thirty, safety net, my hair, love language, obvious, and pov
> 
> (that's almost half the album but those are my top 6, ESPECIALLY pov WHICH IS SO GOOOD 
> 
> seriously go stream positions


	30. day thirty: night (what a beautiful, beautiful thing)

Kara closes eyes, sweeping her super-hearing across the city for any signs of distress, lips twitching into the beginning of a smile when she hears nothing out of the ordinary. The family three doors down is playing Exploding Kittens happily, a couple from the building across the street watching a movie while cuddling. Everything seems perfectly fine, and she draws her hearing range back to that of a human’s and sighs.

Like every other night when all is quiet, she flies onto the roof of L-corp.

She doesn’t know why she chooses this specific L-corp building, maybe it’s the feeling in her stomach when she looks over the edge to the ground, the only thing obscuring her view the balcony on the top floor.

Lena’s floor.

The balcony she built for her.

She dangles her feet over the edge and swings them softly, laying back so her hair splays out under her head.

She locates Rao in the nighttime sky, a fainter point of light than the rest of the stars, a loud reminder that it’s a dead solar system, boh planets surrounding it a wasteland.

Fingers curl into fists, fingernails digging crescent-shaped indents into = skin, and through her invincibility, she feels the smallest hint of pain.

Kara smiles.

She likes the nighttime, especially when the moon doesn’t have the full power of the sun when it can only reflect so much to the point where she has her powers, but feels a little more pain than usual.

This is when she can feel the bite of the wind as it whips across the roof, the occasional rain as it pelts against her skin, and the way the edge of the building digs into the back of her knees.

“Hey, you,” she hears a low voice call, and she practically flies into the air. Too stunned to fly onto her feet, she scrambles onto her shoes, mouth immediately dipping into a warm smile at the sight of Lena, bundled up in a fluffy jacket.

“You look warm,” Kara teases, looking down at her clothing, just the Supergirl suit and nothing else.

“Shut up,” Lena shoots her a playful glare. “I’m still cold,” she shuffles over to Kara and moves into her arms, pressing her nose into the crook of Kara’s neck.

The reporter jumps at the icy touch and Lena giggles in response, making Kara’s heart skip.

“So, what brings you up here?” Kara murmurs, hugging her best friend (and boss) close.

“I was on the balcony and I looked up and saw a pair of red boots right above me,” she laughs. “I was wondering what you were doing up here.”

“I come up here a lot. Technically the roof isn’t exactly trespassing, but it feels nice up here.”

Lena shifts, shooting Kara a perplexed look. “Why here?”

“I feel safe, I guess,” she shrugs. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I just feel the urge sometimes to be here and so I follow my gut. I don’t regret it.”

“Well, it did bring me to you.”

“Nighttime flight with me?”

“No! Not a chance.” Lena backs away from the center. “It’s too cold”

Kara tilts her head and pouts, holding her arms out. “Please? I’m warm. I’ll keep you safe.”

That seems to be enough convincing for Lena, and Kara bounces happily on her toes. “Step on my toes.”

“Luckily, I’m good at that,” Lena teases, and does just that, relaxing at the feel of sturdy red boots under her heels.

Kara wraps her arms tightly around Lena, and lifts slowly into the air, making sure Lena is comfortable the entire time.

“You good?”

“Yeah. More than,” Lena responds immediately. “I think this is the first time you haven’t carried me bridal style.”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t be able to do this,” she wraps her cape around Lena, pulling her close, the Kryptonian fabric surrounding the both of them. “Warm now?”

Lena can’t say she doesn’t like the contact, and she rests a forehead on Kara’s sturdy shoulders. “Mmhmm.”

Slowly, Kara flies up up up just below the clouds, finding the calmest air current, and stops there, hand brushing at Lena’s eyes to open. “Look.”

Her eyes, squeezed shut, open slowly, eyelashes fluttering, and her mouth drops, just a little as she watches the city below her, a hundred billion lights and windows and stories below them.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispers in awe. “You see this all the time?”

Kara nods. “Never fails to amaze me though.”

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Lena continues, and Kara smiles.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” she echoes.

“It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.”

When Kara looks up again, she realizes Lena’s staring directly at her, right at her, and she had been the entire time.

She doesn’t look away like she’s been caught. Instead, her gentle gaze remains, yes shimmering with emotion as she gazes at the gentle ocean she finds in Kara’s eyes, flecks of moonlight like waves of bioluminescence crashing onto sand.

“You’re a beautiful, beautiful thing,” Lena says, green eyes still locked onto blue, and Kara’s breath hitches.

Kara’s voice is small. “I am?”

The way Lena looks at her confirms that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this really went from light angst to fluff huh
> 
> Oh! I forgot to say, the "it's a beautiful, beautiful thing," is from one of Colleen Ballinger's Hawaii Vlogs back in 2017 when she and her husband (now husband, back then was a friend) said it to something (a turtle? I'm not sure ahaha) but I'm like 110% sure they were blatantly flirting and not talking about the turtle.


	31. day thirty-one: spooky (help me hold on to you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayyy last one! Sorry it's so late! Credit to [LavenderMandarin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderMandarin) for helping me write that last part! Hope y'all enjoy!

When Kara lands softly, boots crunching satisfyingly into the snow as she uncurls her cape around Lena, a blast of frigid air hits Lena like a wave. She hisses loudly, her breath visible in a cloud of steam in front of her and presses herself to Kara’s warm body.

Luckily, the path to the cabin is short, the lights of the front porch warm and inviting. A fireplace is already started (per Lena’s request) as smoke rises from the chimney, floating under the  _ aurora borealis _ , ethereal greens and blues and purples against an inky sky, decorated abundantly with stars.

When they enter the cabin, Lena happily shuts the door, bathing in the warm air, and they drop off their bags in their own rooms. As Kara showers, Lena prepares dinner, and they cuddle warmly by the fireplace afterwards while they attempt to solve a 500-piece puzzle of the view from the cabin. 

When both of them say their goodnights, retreating to their own rooms to fall asleep, Lena gets a text from Kara, and she smiles.  _ Dork. _

_ hi,  _ it reads, and she lets herself laugh, quiet and shockingly empty in the large room.

_ Hey you, _ she texts back and shuts off her phone, ready to sleep, but another text comes through.

_ i’m cold, can i come over? _

Lena laughs aloud again, knowing very well Kara’s using a horrible excuse to see Lena again. Her fingers dance over the keyboard as she types up a response. 

_ Totally. _

_ i can’t tell if ur being sarcastic or not, _ Kara responds.

_ Schrödinger's cat. Open the box? _

A response returns immediately. 

_ wow u even used the weird ö thingy _

Lena rolls her eyes, typing out the quick response.  _ Just come over.  _

When Lena sees the read receipt but no response, she sacrifices her own warmth to get out of the covers and open the door, revealing Kara Danvers, in all her glory.

Blonde hair, tousled from laying down, falls messily down a shoulder, stray strands sticking out in all directions. She’s wearing a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants with reindeer fuzzy socks, an awkward grin plastered on her face.

“Hi.”

“I got out of bed and sacrificed being warm for you,” she grumbles, and Kara pouts and shuffles inside, sitting down on the unbelievably soft queen bed. 

She doesn’t stop there, however, and crawls all the way to the headboard to lift the covers and slip into the spot.

“Kara,” Lena sighs, amused, and nudges the warm body.

“Mm,” she grunts, shifting in protest, and Lena sighs, pulling the covers over herself as well. She stiffens, resisting every urge to pull Kara against her, but if Kara’s not going to move, she might as well take advantage of this situation.

She moves behind Kara and wraps her arms around the firm figure, pressing herself to the other woman. Instead of the flinch she expects, Kara leans into her, tucks her knees into her chest to push closer, closer.

Lena feels warmer than she’s ever been and oh, so comfortable and leans her forehead onto the back of Kara’s shoulder. She lifts a pale hand to idly trace lines and shapes on Kara’s arm before laying her palm flat to smooth her hand over the warm skin there soothingly. When Kara sighs, she hears the slight tremble in the exhale.

“G’night,” she murmurs sleepily, pressing a gentle kiss to the base of Kara’s neck before she drifts off happily.

//

Things move quickly the next day. Both of them wake up around nine-thirty, fix a quick breakfast of fruit and apple juice (for Lena) and chocolate chip cookies and milk (for Kara).

They pack their bags, Kara holding them in a hand, Lena wrapped securely in the other arm, and she drops the woman off at her penthouse, before crushing her in a goodbye hug.

“See you tomorrow, boss,” she salutes playfully and flies off, a gust of wind ruffling Lena’s already tousled hair as she disappears into the distance.

They don’t talk about the previous night.

//

Kara picks up a coffee at Noonan’s as usual, but when she arrives, the coffee is already sitting on the counter.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Danvers,” the barista acknowledges. “It was just prepared for you, so it should still be fresh.”

“Got it, thank you!” she grabs the coffee, tossing a ten into the tip jar, and scurries to CatCo. Did Lena buy her coffee for her this morning?

She makes a mental note to check in with Lena after CatCo, but the lucky streak of the day ends when Kara has back-to-back savings miles apart before she finally makes it to the DEO.

On her way, she passes by L-corp, as usual, using her super-vision to check in on Lena through the windows, but standing, poised by the scotch bottle, is someone she never thought she would see again.

Lex Luthor.

_ H-How? _ She panics, bewildered.  _ He’s dead, he can’t be- _

She shakes it off, knowing it could be one of Lena’s appointments that looked like Lex from the back, since his face wasn’t visible, and she pushes the thought away.

It sits unsettlingly in her stomach like a heavy rock and she tracks him down by heartbeat. Though it drains a lot of her power and attention, she keeps an eye out for the Lex Luthor lookalike, knowing exactly where to find him if something happens.

Luckily, nothing happens, not until an hour later, after she goes on her daily check-in to multiple cities around the world, when she tracks the specific person again.

It leads her to somewhere familiar.

It leads her to the DEO.

Curious to see if it’s actually Lex and not Lena’s assistant who also happens to be a DEO agent trainee, she walks inside to one of the labs with a window and looks inside, eyes trained on the man, waiting for him to turn around and show his face-

It is Lex Luthor. He wears his trademark smirk, hands moving quickly, expertly as he studies a small sample of Harun-El.

Kara is perplexed at this situation but overwhelmingly infuriated that Lex Luthor is at the DEO, using DEO resources and technology to do research.

She blinks several times, just to make sure it’s not him, because Lex is dead, killed by Supergirl herself but he looks up, directly at Kara, and she freezes. It’s him. She’s never been more sure.

The unsettling feeling bubbles, morphing into rage, the same rage that prompted her to kill him, and she storms to the entrance, ripping the door off its hinges like a piece of paper, and she darts at the villain, pinning him to the far wall.

Several items fall to the ground, shattering as they’re knocked off by the gust of wind, but Kara doesn’t care.

If Lex isn’t dead, she’s killing him now. Screw the DEO’s anti-killing rule, because he hurt Lena. He broke her heart and tore them apart and he deserved this.

She lands a punch to the side of his arm and she almost smiles as it gives way under her fist like nothing, the satisfying crunch of bone mixed with a cry of terror filling her veins with adrenaline. 

His other arm is free, and he fumbles for the transmatter portal watch on his left wrist, but Kara lifts him by the neck into the air. 

“Lex Luthor,” she spits his name like a curse, a disgrace. “You will never harm anyone ever again.” And then she starts squeezing, squeezing-

“Supergirl!” A familiar voice roars, clearly enraged, and she turns around, distracted, loosening her grip on Lex’s neck. She hears a sharp intake of breath, the unbroken right arm scrabbling at her hand to let go. Before she can drop the villain, she hears fumbling and then the distinct sound of kryptonite clinking as it hits the ground.

The pain comes all at once, out of nowhere, and she grunts, dropping Lex. Both of them crash to the ground, and Kara squirms, green fire raking its nails, taking its anger out on Kara’s flesh and she lets out a cry of pain.

“Alex,” she gasps out as her sister rushes over, tucking the shard of kryptonite back into a lead-lined pocket in her suit. “W-Why’d you do that! Lex, he’s supposed to be dead, he-”

Alex’s eyes widen comically, and Kara wants to ask why, when she sees it.

The silver wafting off her body like smoke, rising into the air, evaporating into nothing.

“Silver kryptonite,” she hears Alex whisper, but it’s too late, her voice is too far away, and she can’t look at what she’s done to-

Lena. She hurt Lena. She-

_ Rao, help me, please, I hurt her- _

Kara’s breath hitches as she inhales and she coughs loudly, choking on oxygen, eyes skimming over to Lena’s lifeless body on the ground.

Her arm is bent at an unnatural angle, hanging loosely, and Kara can’t bring herself to see the mark she’s left on her throat-

Each thought overshadows the last, thoughts about how bad of a person she is, about how she hurt her best friend, how they had just mended their relationship and how Lena is never going to talk to her again, if she ever could talk again.

It all fades eventually into white noise, growing louder, louder,  _ louder- _

She bursts out of the DEO building and flies.

She flies far and fast and away. Kara wants to fly out of the Earth, into the stratosphere, where she can’t breathe. She deserves to float away into space, to be forgotten and to be killed by the cruel forces that brought her to Earth because she hurt Lena, she hurt her best friend, she hurt the one person she cared about most.

She finds a place in a busy city where she can blend in with millions of people and feel small in the big, big world.

She sees silver in Lena’s normally green eyes when she dreams of her that night.

//

“Wha- What happened?” Lena whispers hoarsely as she snaps into consciousness, throat scratchy and dry. When she tries to sit up, a shooting pain flies from her shoulder, rattling her nerves down to the tips of her fingers. A whimper escapes her throat.

Alex immediately shushes her by pressing a finger to her lips. “Don’t talk, please. Whispering is okay, though,” she drags a stool to sit next to Lena. “What do you remember?”

With every word, she winces and chokes, and her throat feels tight and raw. “S-Supergirl came in and she was mad, so mad, and then she broke my arm and must’ve gone into shock because I don’t remember the rest.”

The short sentence exhausts her, and she collapses, sinking into the hospital bed, panting, breaths loud and ragged.

Alex’s head drops to rest in a hand, sighing. “Someone slipped silver kryptonite dust into Kara’s coffee, we don’t know who yet, and she saw you as Lex.”

The redhead looks away from Lena’s expectant gaze. “Figured you wanted to know what injuries you suffered.”

Lena nods slowly, almost hesitantly.

Alex pulls up her x-rays on the monitor beside the bed, pointing to the fractures. “You have a comminuted fracture across your radius and ulna, which may have caused some damage to the humerus, we have to take an MRI scan to make sure. You also have a dislocated shoulder and there was some degree of hyperextension as well, so it’ll take awhile to heal.” Alex swallows, voice on the razor’s edge of shaky as she continues. “You were choked as well, and the pressure on your throat damaged your thyroid cartilage. It’s best if you don’t talk for now.”

“Where is she?” Lena whispers, looking away when Alex’s brows knit tightly.

Alex’s voice is tiny. “I don’t know, Lena. She took off all trackers and monitors. Everyone’s looking for her, but no reports so far. She’s gone completely off the grid.” When Lena makes eye contact with Alex again, she sees tears welling up, and she remembers that Alex is Supergirl’s sister as well and how devastated she would be if she had this connection with Kara.

“I’ll tell you if we get any information. I know how much she means to you,” Alex nods, choking up.

Lena signs  _ thank you,  _ eyes cast downward as Alex leaves the room.

//

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” she greets the woman hoarsely with a firm nod, and she laughs quietly in response.

“I’ve been busy dealing with a lot of things,” Kate rambles comfortably. “We had a visitor that needed help and it’s been taking up a lot of time. Doesn’t really help that she’s blonde and is like, really gorgeous,” Kate laughs, unaware of the information given.

If Lena notices her slip, she doesn’t show it. 

“Ah, well I’m glad you could visit,” Lena answers, beaming back at the woman.

Kate doesn’t point out the sudden change in enthusiasm.

//

Lena flies privately to Gotham, alerting only Sam to take the reins of the company for the time being. When she lands, she rents her own car, a nice, private place free of drivers and assistants to think.

Fingers drumming anxiously in her lap, she furiously maps all the possible places Kara can be.

She checks Kate’s place first, pressing her ear to the front door for any sounds, and when she realizes that there are only one pair of shoes by the door (shuddup i’m asian) that clearly don’t fit Kara, she retreats to her car to rethink.

_ The last time we went to Gotham together, where were the places we spent together? _

The local dive bar that reminded Kara of the one back in National City.

Lena forces herself not to tremble with the adrenaline rush when she arrives well into the night, plastering on a cool CEO façade before stepping in.

It’s the same as she remembers, from the decorations to the wall (some changed to accommodate seasonal holidays and dishes) down to the musty smell and change of atmosphere.

Green eyes scan quickly around the room, catching for a hint of blonde hair or the way blue eyes catch hers, but she doesn’t see Kara.

She slumps, disappointed, picking at the skin on her fingers and begins to head out, before realizing that there’s a staircase that leads to a second floor, a much quieter lounge area, and she heads up there.

It’s almost empty, save two groups of people, who are significantly less drunk than the people downstairs, and it makes it much easier to spot Kara in a crowd.

She’s not here, either.

“Hey!” A woman calls from the group, waving the CEO over, and she shuffles over to them. “Looking for someone?”

Lena manages to open and close her mouth several times without fail, and instead of scrambling for the right words, she nods soundlessly.

“There was one girl, she went up to the roof a while ago. She looked like she was looking for someone too, but it’s been an hour and she hasn’t come down yet.”

Lena swallows, her throat suddenly too tight, lungs too tiny, the room too small, and she scrambles up the staircase at the corner that bends tightly around rafters and metal beams until she reaches a door.

There are no words to describe the furious pounding of her heart, a merciless reminder of how much Kara meant to her, still means to her.

She pushes the unlocked door open.

//

Alex’s phone buzzes in the middle of the night and she lifts it from her nightstand frustratedly, only to gasp at the text that comes through, a hand flying upward to cover her mouth.

_ I know where she is. _

Fingers trembling, Alex takes several tries to type out a response.  _ Where is she? How’d you find out? _

_ A friend slipped up. I’m going to her now, you don’t have to worry. _

The redhead clenches her jaw at the message, knowing how defeated Kara was when she had realized Lena was the one that was hurt instead of Lex.

_ She feels very guilty about what she did. Be careful, please. _

_ Noted. _

Alex doesn’t text back and tosses her phone lightly back onto the nughtstand, holding a pillow close to her chest. 

Her apartment is the only thing left of her in National City, and even then, the scent that was once so  _ Kara _ is fading away.

_ Find her, please, _ she begs silently as she stares at the ceiling.

//

The door creaks loudly when she opens it, revealing a hunched figure, legs hanging limply over the edge of the roof.

If Kara hears the creak of the door, she doesn’t show it.

Though the stars glitter brightly overhead, the streets below are bustling with lights and life, seemingly distant though they’re only two floors up.

She closes the door behind her as discreetly as possible, almost missing the way Kara stiffens, the way she seems to take a breath and hold it. Almost.

The next few steps forward are slow and tentative, placing one foot stiffly in front of the other as if she’s trying not to scare a nervous cat.

When Lena sits down carefully next to Kara, making sure to keep a distance between her and Kara. A distance that jerks Lena back to those months of torture after she had learned Kara was Supergirl. A distance that only spans a foot and a half in reality but feels like an entire galaxy and more.

She folds her legs underneath her, shifting awkwardly. Swallows the wave of sorrow as it rises like a tsunami in her chest. Sees Kara relax just slightly and does the same, fingers tapping restlessly in her lap.

“Hi, Kara.”

The two words hold more weight than Lena thought was possible in such a simple greeting. It’s the first words she’s said to her— best friend? former best friend? her… what?— Lena squeezes her eyes shut and forces the bile that rises in her throat down, down, down, just like the thoughts.

Her voice is still slightly hoarse, even after a month and Lena sees the way Kara clearly winces, twitching uncomfortably when she hears what she’s done to Lena.

Kara doesn’t give a verbal answer, instead scooting over a centimeter, just slightly, but enough to make Lena feel like all the stars, all the landmarks that remind Lena that she’s not alone in her galaxy are sucked between them, leaving nothing but darkness.

She doesn’t make any more to look at Lena either. Lena’s eyes dart to Kara, noticing the way her eyes stay locked firmly onto the horizon, seeing the twitch in the muscles in her neck, the way her hands form into fists to avoid looking at Lena.

She feels her heart break, loud and messy inside her as she remembers how Alex had described silver kryptonite. 

_ She sees her worst enemy. She fought Superman because of it, because he saw her as his worst enemy. _

“Kara,” Lena manages, the word sounding far too draining than she intends, swallowing the wave of pain when Kara digs her fingers into her palms harder, squeezes her eyes shut harder. “Look at me.”

This time, her voice isn’t hoarse from the damage, but from the intense emotion.

_ Look at me, Kara, please. I need you to look at me.  _

She sees Kara’s chest heaving as her breath quickens, sees the tiny and frantic shake of her head as tears drip down the side of her face.  _ No, _ it says. _ I can’t.  _

“Please,” Lena whispers. “It’s okay, Kara. It’s just me.”

Kara’s posture softens, releasing the unnecessary tension. She turns her head slowly, opening her eyes tentatively, unclenches her fists shakily.

Her mouth falls open, tears falling faster, heavier. Lena feels her chest lighten, feels the stars blinking back into existence, feels the galaxy between them disappear until there’s only the foot and a half between them again.

“Lena-” The word is barely a breath, lost in the wind, but it’s heard, and it makes Lena’s heart swell, hope filling her lungs, her heart, her soul like a flood. Lena’s lips form a smile, wide and welcoming, eyes brimming with tears, and relief hits her so hard, she feels winded.

“Lena,” Kara’s sobbing now, letting the tears drip messily onto her clothes. “ _ Lena. _ ” She collapses onto herself like a dying star and Lena catches her, holding her, cradling her softly in her arms.

Lena holds Kara close, a hand lifted to her cheek to wipe the tears away gently with the pad of her thumb while the other caresses her back softly yet firmly, a reminder that she’s here. 

As tears subside to soft sniffles, the horizon begins to paint itself with dim colors, black fading to grey to a brilliant brightness that engulfs the entire world in light and warmth. The longer they stay pressed against each other, the lighter the sky gets, Lena feels herself grow as light as a balloon.

They stay there, holding each other in their arms, hope burning in their chests brighter than the rising sun.

Kara feels Lena bending down to pick up the broken shards of her heart, putting it back together piece by piece, holding it softly in her hands.

_ I love you, _ the hug says.  _ I’m here now. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright can i storytime real quick:
> 
> this entire thing is actually inspired by a dream i had the night before. since i can't write horror or anything "spooky", my mind was coming with absolutely nothing before the dream.
> 
> the first fluffy part was part of the fluffy dream i had, and uhm that scene after kara goes into lena's room was definitely a part of it-
> 
> but then after that part it ended and gave way to a dream where i did something wrong (i didn't know what i did wrong) and i was basically pushed out everything (and got my leg broken) and no one talked to me, and then i was forgiven in the end and everything was happy and good.
> 
> there's more to that but i woke up and went oh shoot this kara is me and instead of everyone seeing her as bad, she sees someone as bad (my logic is flawless, y'all). so i sent this to mandy and she literally started spewing ideas and she's literally heavensent i swear and wrote out the entire last part
> 
> but also i didn't want to copy the entire thing so i pretty much kept the dialogue


End file.
